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NASA Shuttle Launch Coverage - Still room for improvement?
by
aurora899
on 17 Mar, 2009 12:28
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I originally posted this to the STS-119 Launch Viewing thread but I think the subject is worthy of a wider debate:
It looks as though NASA PAO are still experimenting with the format of their countdown coverage. Last time (STS-126) we had Candrea Thomas in the firing room relaying the countdown and Allard sat outside in a deckchair talking to various people. This time Candrea had the interviewees sat at her console whilst Allard popped up now and again with a few bits and bobs. I'm not sure whether this format worked better or not.
As a UK resident, I was interested to hear that one of the questions NASA PAO endeavoured to answer was from "Laurence" in Bournemouth. Of course, most English people would pronounce this delightful seaside town as "Bournem'uth" so it was quite funny to hear Candrea call it "BourneMOUTH."
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#1
by
Chris Bergin
on 17 Mar, 2009 12:39
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As a UK resident, I was interested to hear that one of the questions NASA PAO endeavoured to answer was from "Laurence" in Bournemouth. Of course, most English people would pronounce this delightful seaside town as "Bournem'uth" so it was quite funny to hear Candrea call it "BourneMOUTH."
Totally forgivable, not that I think you're having a go at her over that. Heck, we can't even work out how to pronounce Shrewsbury yet
There was also a question from someone in Lincoln read out.
I thought it was good coverage. Sure there were a couple of times they talked over the loops, but NTV isn't aimed at hardcore console fans. Allard is one of the cool PAOs who doesn't sound like a machine and makes it all more user friendly to hardcore and part time followers, and I could listen to Candrea's accent all day as far as I'm concerned *drool*
Saw some notes on another forum where they were picking Candrea apart for the slight boo boo at T-0, but I'd say that's actually a REALLY tough part of the commentary. How many of us are shaking wrecks coming out of the T-9 hold? I know I am, and she's in the LCC!
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#2
by
aurora899
on 17 Mar, 2009 12:55
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No, I wasn't knocking her at all. Like you, I find her tones quite dulcet!
If I do have one minor criticism it is that, at times, she can sound a bit stilted; it's fairly obvious that she's reading from a prepared script. If Candrea could just be a bit more natural then I think she's got it cracked.
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#3
by
MKremer
on 17 Mar, 2009 13:16
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I thought it was good coverage. Sure there were a couple of times they talked over the loops, but NTV isn't aimed at hardcore console fans. Allard is one of the cool PAOs who doesn't sound like a machine and makes it all more user friendly to hardcore and part time followers, and I could listen to Candrea's accent all day as far as I'm concerned *drool*
I'm sure many of us here (myself included) would appreciate more 'subdued' PAO chatter (mainly just passing on relevant MCC data, like ECO status and problem reports, but generally staying quiet... especially after liftoff).
That said, a few commenters on several other science blogs announcing the launch actually wished for *more* PAO commentary, and complained about "too much dead air" with respect to listening to MCC comms.
So, I think PAO is striking a pretty good balance. People like to complain about Rob Navias, but I think he has done a good job calling ascents, allowing most of the capcom/shuttle audio through and still passing on status and explaining callouts (George Diller was good at that as well). That comes from experience, when to stay silent and when it's ok to talk, especially when unexpected callouts or transmissions occur.
Also, is it *always* necessary for EVERY launch PAO to countdown the last 10 seconds even when the launch timekeeper is counting down over the loop as well? (and it's especially amusing when the PAO commentator can't even keep up with the voice in the background!)
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#4
by
nomadd22
on 17 Mar, 2009 13:41
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She could check her math a little better. She stated that the new arrays would increase ISS power by 25%. Or, maybe her wording.
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#5
by
aurora899
on 17 Mar, 2009 13:42
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Of course we had two female commentators for STS-119: Candrea Thomas in the LCC covering the countdown and the delightfully named "Kylie Clem" at JSC for the ascent.
Launch commentator is a bit of a thankless task when you think about it. On the one hand you've got the cognoscenti who want to hear all the technical stuff and on the other, Joe Public who doesn't want to be bamboozled by a load of NASA jargon and techno-babble.
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#6
by
DaveS
on 17 Mar, 2009 13:47
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She could check her math a little better. She stated that the new arrays would increase ISS power by 25%. Or, maybe her wording.
What is 100/4? It's 25! Four Solar Array Wing modules(S4, S6, P4 and P6). So this is the final set of SAWs.
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#7
by
psloss
on 17 Mar, 2009 14:19
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The coverage is fine as long as the countdowns are smooth -- which is a more than reasonable assumption. My concern is that the new PAOs wouldn't be able to improvise if something off-nominal came up late in the count.
And I think they have some responsibility to inform the audience of changes that happen during the countdown, so I do wish they'd pass along news of things that occur while pre-recorded material is running. (I didn't get the feeling Candrea was going to say anything about the T-0 adjustment and when she spoke with Pete Nickolenko, he only mentioned it in passing.)
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#8
by
aurora899
on 17 Mar, 2009 14:28
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The coverage is fine as long as the countdowns are smooth -- which is a more than reasonable assumption. My concern is that the new PAOs wouldn't be able to improvise if something off-nominal came up late in the count.
That's a good point. Candrea's greatest challenge will come if, and when, something goes "off-nominal" and she has to ditch her carefully prepared script and start thinking on her feet. I'm still backing her though.
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#9
by
kch
on 17 Mar, 2009 14:40
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She could check her math a little better. She stated that the new arrays would increase ISS power by 25%. Or, maybe her wording.
What is 100/4? It's 25! Four Solar Array Wing modules(S4, S6, P4 and P6). So this is the final set of SAWs.
It's the "increase" part -- percentage of increase over the *existing* capacity, not percentage of the eventual total -- that wasn't correct. The existing 3 modules are about to "become" 4, which will be 4/3 of existing capacity, which is an increase of 1/3, which is 33%, not 25%. It's a very common error.
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#10
by
Chris Bergin
on 17 Mar, 2009 14:40
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People like to complain about Rob Navias...
I didn't know that! I think he's awesome.
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#11
by
jimvela
on 17 Mar, 2009 15:11
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She could check her math a little better. She stated that the new arrays would increase ISS power by 25%. Or, maybe her wording.
What is 100/4? It's 25! Four Solar Array Wing modules(S4, S6, P4 and P6). So this is the final set of SAWs.
It's the "increase" part -- percentage of increase over the *existing* capacity, not percentage of the eventual total -- that wasn't correct. The existing 3 modules are about to "become" 4, which will be 4/3 of existing capacity, which is an increase of 1/3, which is 33%, not 25%. It's a very common error.
And isn't that
still wrong, because there are other solar arrays on the station besides the (soon to be) four US arrays...
e.g. Zarya, Zvesda, (eventually) RKA, and visiting Soyuz spacecraft all have solar arrays.
All of which proves that it's harder to give "good" information than is generally understood.
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#12
by
kch
on 17 Mar, 2009 15:23
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She could check her math a little better. She stated that the new arrays would increase ISS power by 25%. Or, maybe her wording.
What is 100/4? It's 25! Four Solar Array Wing modules(S4, S6, P4 and P6). So this is the final set of SAWs.
It's the "increase" part -- percentage of increase over the *existing* capacity, not percentage of the eventual total -- that wasn't correct. The existing 3 modules are about to "become" 4, which will be 4/3 of existing capacity, which is an increase of 1/3, which is 33%, not 25%. It's a very common error.
And isn't that still wrong, because there are other solar arrays on the station besides the (soon to be) four US arrays...
e.g. Zarya, Zvesda, (eventually) RKA, and visiting Soyuz spacecraft all have solar arrays.
All of which proves that it's harder to give "good" information than is generally understood.
That's true -- it's not an easy thing to do.
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#13
by
Jim
on 17 Mar, 2009 15:35
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e.g. Zarya, visiting Soyuz spacecraft all have solar arrays.
All of which proves that it's harder to give "good" information than is generally understood.
Zarya's are retracted and Soyuz don't supply power to the complex
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#14
by
Ronsmytheiii
on 17 Mar, 2009 15:42
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Personally I like the ESA commentary idea, which is to be quiet during the final countdown and initial flight. I do like the idea of payload.mission promotion videos.
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#15
by
Andrewwski
on 17 Mar, 2009 18:58
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There should be an automated process that cuts off PAO every time chatter comes on the comm loop. I don't mind PAO talking, but I'm annoyed when it's over something on the comm loop.
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#16
by
rdale
on 17 Mar, 2009 19:50
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Remember that NASA didn't do the "no PAO" feed on the media channel this time because they had nobody (except maybe me
) express interest when they did it for STS-126... I'd suggest dropping a line to the contacts from that press release if you want it back.
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#17
by
Andrewwski
on 17 Mar, 2009 21:08
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Well, I tried it, and it would have been great if it worked. But IIRC the audio on it was absolutely terrible in quality.
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#18
by
aurora899
on 18 Mar, 2009 09:12
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I wonder what, if any, training the PAOs go through prior to taking up a launch commentating role? Would Candrea have "shadowed" somone like George Diller before being let loose on her own launch? Or would she have gone through a dummy countdown and had "off nominal" situations thrown at her to see how she coped?
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#19
by
Chris Bergin
on 18 Mar, 2009 09:44
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I wonder what, if any, training the PAOs go through prior to taking up a launch commentating role? Would Candrea have "shadowed" somone like George Diller before being let loose on her own launch? Or would she have gone through a dummy countdown and had "off nominal" situations thrown at her to see how she coped?
That gave a morning chuckle, picturing a PAO simulator where they have to avoid talking over the loop, otherwise the simulator starts shaking and rolling over with *siren, siren* "SHUT UP" *siren, siren* "SHUT UP* being alerted to them, before the lights come back on and a veteran PAO puts a friendly hand on their shoulder informing the glum faced newbie that "everyone crashes the simulator the first time."
There was also a question from someone in Lincoln read out.
) express interest when they did it for STS-126... I'd suggest dropping a line to the contacts from that press release if you want it back.
