NASA EDGE - Geeky Cool and the Transit of Venus

Last Tuesday, if you were paying attention, you had what's likely your last chance of a lifetime to experience a transit of Venus in person. You'll need to stick around until 2117 if you want to see the next one. If you missed it last Tuesday, sorry to break the news to you, but don't panic, you're still in luck. Technology captured all sorts of video, photo and raw data of the event and you should be able to relive it fully when your schedule allows.

My family and I started out our transit experience at Bobcat Stadium here in Bozeman, where the Montana Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) had organized a viewing event and presentation. There was a good crowd, including lots of kids. The display area was packed with people and really the only (literal) damper on the afternoon was one of the heavier thunderstorms we've had this Spring, perfectly timed to interrupt the main talk. As we were huddled under shelter to stay out of the rain and away from lightning strikes, I discovered NASA's live feed of the transit on my iPhone. Since it was so overcast with the thunderstorm, the NASA feed really gave us our only decent view of the phenomenon.

Of course, parental life being what it is these days, we then had to run around town to get Zane to soccer practice and Kiley to her swim lesson. I had to go home and work a couple more hours in front of my laptop, but wanted to stay in touch with Venus' progress. Initially I restarted the live feed on my iPhone, but quickly realized I was better off loading it on the iMac right next to where I was working. I discovered quickly that the broadcast wasn't just video feed of the transit itself. They were cutting to play-by-play from a number of very cold scientists at the top of Mauna Kea, and switching periodically to studio segments on some of the scientific basics surrounding the transit and NASA's work in general.

Now, I'm old enough to remember live television broadcasts of the lunar missions and completely recognize how immersive and engulfing those were, but as the space program has evolved, the coverage has been less gripping and easier to ignore. As I watched the NASA EDGE broadcast (a USTREAM channel) I couldn't help the smile on my face. It seems NASA's finally figured out something my father and I have talked about quite a bit. Kids find it way too easy to get immersed in video games and brain dead TV shows, and it's only the rare geeky kids (like me) that would rather dig around to learn more about NASA, evolution and robotics. But NASA EDGE has taken some lessons from NFL and Olympic Games broadcasting, while retaining the unique flavor that science and technology bring to the table. In the process, they've generated an entertaining and educational collection of programming that really ought to appeal to the masses, much in the same way that MythBusters does.

You see, science isn't all lab coats and thick, black, plastic frame glasses. I grew up backpacking with two other families, at least one trip every year. All three fathers were professors of chemistry, and the group expanded over the years to include other academics, physics professors, chemistry graduate students, etc. There were some high-powered intellects on those trips and yet there were no lab coats. We definitely had a crew of misfit, fun-loving folks that could easily get lost in discussions about astronomy or the trajectory of the sun. But scientists are just people, and our family backpacking trips melded the intellectual focus of two (and now three) generations, while absolutely focusing first on fun.

Last Tuesday after the kids and Nancy came home from their late afternoon activities, I started up the NASA EDGE feed on our iPad and used AirPlay to push the signal over to our TV. We watched the coverage for at least another hour and it triggered a lot of fun conversation and Wikipedia digging. I honestly think NASA is onto something. If we can get the next generation of kids to spend more time pondering orbits, space debris and planetary trajectories, we will raise happier more productive adults. It was clear from NASA's coverage on Tuesday that the scientists covering the event were having a blast, being themselves and that science is both simulating and silly.

If you missed the coverage on Tuesday, check out the NASA video archive and keep an eye on NASA EDGE programming. Next time you're thinking of sitting down with family to watch a movie, consider NASA EDGE instead. You won't regret it. Technology and science are cool, really!