Both during and after the mission NASA encountered many problems that if exposed to the public could have destroyed their reputation. Due to the expert work of hiding the information with the public and making it seem like a success, NASA was able to uphold their reputation.
Missi0n control during the event.
https://scripturethoughts.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/apollo13missioncontrol1.jpg |
|
The Public relations team quickly spun the story around so the global public believed that NASA knew what they were doing. Before they could even think about getting these men home they needed to calm down the public. Due to the fact that there were two members of the media within mission control "the reporters (outside mission control) believed" anything the public relations team said (Collins and Kraemer).
|
Chris Kraft the flight director who was able to project a confidence to the public that they would bring these men home.
http://airandspace.si.edu/webimages/640/WEB10495-2005_640.jpg |
Thomas Paine
http://www.cedmagic.com/mem/whos-who/paine-thomas.jpg |
|
The true success of the public relations was shown during the aftermath of the mission. Both the actual launch of Apollo 13 and the in space documentary by the crew were not originally televised. According to Jim Lovell in an interview with Matt Lauer, he stated, "The only mention of Apollo 13 in The New York Times was on the weather page about 97 pages in"(Lovell). By rescuing these men and upholding their reputation in such a high tense situation, the public relations team inadvertently made this mission more famous, which reignited the passion for space exploration.
|
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy This is a video from NBCNews that details just how insignificant Apollo 13 was originally perceived by the American public.
|
After the successful landing of Apollo 11, NASA had gained a significant positive reputation, which helped NASA calm down the tense situation of Apollo 13. NASA’s public relations team was at its peak and its position was accepted throughout the agency. These men such as Chris Kraft were able to calm down this tense situation to ensure there would be no public uproar. Due to their public relations team, NASA never lost control of the situation. Everything had to maintain calm or else these men could have died in space. Even though this was entirely new to the NASA team their encounter with the media projected competence and positive image, that was demonstrated throughout the world. When they actually did bring these men home it dramatically increased NASA’s position throughout the world. If these men had died in space it's safe to say that NASA would have lost any credibility or power it once held.