NASA tried something new for media coverage with the launch of the Discovery. They set up online coverage through Yahoo and AOL. While normal television broadcast and cable networks will cover the launch, these two companies give you something new to search for. Both companies scored big points with this coverage and having watched both, both were sharp.
In a story I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I discussed the AOL and Yahoo having gotten the rights to carry the Discovery launch online. Well, the time is here and this story will be discussing the online coverage of both Yahoo and AOL.
AOL, during the launch, had the best set up for viewing. They had a multiview option with for different perspectives of the launch. The views shift from point to point including distance shots of the launch tower, inside the control center at Kennedy Space Center, inside the walkway connected to the top of shuttle where crews pressurize the cabin and shut the hatch. They had a view from across the water at a distance. These views really provide a good look at the launch from a lot of different angles. The great point is all these views are available on the same screen.
AOL also has a blogger on the ground at Kennedy who’s keeping tabs on what’s going on. His first post on launch day was 6 a.m. EDT. He’s made a number of posts on various days so far. He will be posting more through out the day.
Yahoo has the luxury of being the media company designated to handle the coverage of the launch from NASA’s website. Yahoo didn’t have the multiview screen perspective although the view on the their screen did change. One point to notice about the two different feeds is timing. They varied slightly, bouncing back and forth with a slight delay.
Both had sound coverage with comments from their own announcers as well as feeds directly from NASA discussing various points in the countdown procedures. One thing Yahoo’s NASA coverage had were brief, breakaway features discussing various points of interest. One was the construction of a new radar facility for the shuttle or the takeoff of high altitude photography planes to take picture of the launch high up.
During the lift off itself, both views choked a bit as the number of hits obviously greatly increased. Yahoo seemed to get hit hard but that could only be attributed to them having the link from NASA’s website. AOL had multiple views of the lift off and all of them were tremendous. AOL did have the best actual coverage of the liftoff overall because Yahoo simply got to busy. Yahoo kept a single view mostly but after the launch was over, Yahoo really looked better. Eventually though both did replays of various points during the launch or just before. They did keep a live audio feed of the mission as the shuttle crew made various checks and maneuvers during the initial stages of the mission.
The views during launch were spectacular as jets of smoke and fire erupted as the shuttle and its ascent to the heavens. The camera positions shifted and the most interesting was the camera attached to the external fuel tank. One got a clear view as the clouds shifted into an outer space view on the camera. Then a minute or so later, the tank disconnects from the shuttle. The camera remained operational during the much of the tank’s time in space.
Coverage will continue online with replays of the launch as both AOL and Yahoo will provide continuous mission coverage of the entire mission for the next 13 days. AOL will also offer the replays on-demand so folks who missed the dramatic launch may go back and view or some folks may want to relive the moment. New coverage will start at around 3 p.m. today as the cameras take over on the mission in space and will continue 24/7 coverage of the space shuttle mission.
The success of the shuttle mission comes for NASA is paramount. The success of the news coverage for Yahoo and AOL is paramount for their online efforts. More and more stories will appear over the coming weeks discussing the mission regardless of what happens. It’s imperative that Yahoo and AOL provide top coverage.
John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.
