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Star Trek Into Darkness Trailer Recruits for the NASA Edition of Starfleet
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Founded 1958
Crowdfunding is Helping NASA Recruit Astronauts and Staff
Who among us ever suspected that crowdfunding could lead to NASA's ability to build a real-life Starfleet? Happily, it happened in just six days, like the biblical creation of the world!
After just six days of crowdfunding at Indiegogo, financial success was celebrated March 30, 2013 that allowed NASA to begin editing an introductory film trailer for play before the May 2013 release of Star Trek Into Darkness. From there, it will likely become an oft-repeated Public Service Announcement. NASA Commercial Crew partner, Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), accepted the duties of editing and purchase the theater time to run the pre-film trailer.
The NASA PSA We Are The Explorers is recruiting new people to work in Aerospace Exploration projects that together qualify as a real-life Starfleet. Aimed at today's high schools, colleges, recent graduates, and more, the trailer highlights the glory of discovery in outer space thanks to advancements and studies in STEM disciplines: Sciences, Technologies, Engineering, and Mathematics.
NASA was able to recruit and train two new astronaut classes in 2013 and 2017, both of them destined and designation to fly to Mars.
New Jobs In Space
Already showing successes in the work completed by the NASA Commerical Crew of 63 different private aerospace companies (in early 2013), NASA collaborators scheduled themselves to revisit the moon by robot in early 2013 and Mars in the flesh in 2018, as well as to develop several new spacecraft and exiting new modular habitats for other planets and large asteroids. Asteroid mining preparations began in 2011-2012 through the NASA partnership with a company backed by Google, James Cameron, and several other major investors.
Personnel are needed to join the US public and private space exploration program from 2013 - 2023, jobs increasing slowly at first and reaching speed by mid-decade.
The resource video is narrated by Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in the Transformers franchise. Mr. Cullen tells about the progress America has and will achieve in outer space.
Watch the longer video from which NASA will claim their 30-second PSA below (2 minutes, 36 seconds). The only thing better might be the opening credits to Enterprise.
- The original 2'36" resource footage shown above and the 30-second PSA for NASA will likely become historic film footage played in the National Museum of the Air Force at Wright Patterson AFB and the Smithsonian Institution's Air and Space Museum in Washington DC as well as in the visitor's center at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
- The initial crowdfunding success paid for 50 theaters in major cities. Crowdfunding continued so that as many additional American theaters could be served as possible. As of Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013 the fund was already up to $39,000 and $6,000 beyond the original goal in only about one day.
- In order to track the progress of the crowdfunding for We Are The Explorers, visit http://igg.me/at/adspace and look at the tote board figure in green in the upper right hand corner. Many people have become energized by the prospect of further space exploration and I know that former astronaut, Senator John Glenn, who taught at The Ohio State University until age 94 was pleased. He has seen nearly the complete history of flight within his lifetime.
History of Star Trek and NASA
The Star Trek franchise has helped NASA recruit workers before. From the late 1960s to the 1980s, Nichelle Nichols (Uhuru in ST:TOS) actively recruited women and minorities for the NASA astronaut training classes, although non-minority individuals responded to her and also joined. Additional members of the Enterprise crew worked to recruit astronauts for NASA as well. One of my greatest memories is meeting Nichelle Nichols, who first name is Grace, because she changed the world - see: I Met Grace...
If Star Trek helped NASA succeed once, it can help NASA succeed again, despite government funding cuts to ur national space agency. NASA already began accumulating privately owned aerospace partners before the last US Shuttle launched in 2011 and is apparently ready to go private in the future, if necessary.
Crowdfunding worked so phenomenally well to fund the NASA 30-second PSA, it will be used again. It certainly is a long way from 1958!
"Enterprise" - Faith Of The Heart, sung by Russell Watson
NASA and New Astronauts: Star Trek: Into Darkness
- Not a Cliche Review - ST: ID, Star Trek: Into Darkness
PSAs surrounding the markting and presentation of this Star Trek film emphasized recruiting astronauts for NASA. - NASA's 2013 Astronaut Class Background, Education and Skills
From 2012 - 2013, these four men and four women were recuited and selected for a Mission to Mars. They will first fly to a near-Earth asteroid, followed by a flight to the Red Planet. Godspeed!
It's Been a Long Time...
The opening credits of TV's Star Trek: Enterprise (2001 - 2005) were my favorite part of each weekly episode.
The Enterprise credits include scenes of the historic vessels that have been named Enterprise on the sea and in the air prior to the timeline of the series.
The only vessel not included is a riverboat named Enterprise - it was featured in the TV series Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds from 1959 - 1961. By a coincidence, composer Alexander Courage (of Star Trek:The Original Series) contributed to the theme song of Riverboat.
Cutting the Time Needed for Space Travel
- New US-Russian Crew Docks at Space Station in 2013 After Super-Fast Flight (See: Space.com) -- An international crew of astronauts and cosmonauts successfully docked at the International Space Station after completing the first Russian-calculated express trip to the orbiting outpost.
- The time needed for their journey was only six hours, about the time it takes to drive from Central Ohio to Washington DC. This is an astounding step forward in space travel.