Originally posted by Nova
What would happen if someone approached NASA about this? Do they have contact addresses for this type of thing?
My two cents on contacting NASA.
I was a big fan of NASA in my younger days. I remember Neil landing on the moon and being freaked out when 13 went haywire, and really proud and
relieved when they got back. I was sad when 17 was over but very hopeful for the shuttle.
When Viking landed I sent my first fan letter ever-to NASA. It was written in pencil on binder paper. I enclosed one dollar and a self addressed
stamped envelope and asked if it would be possible for me to have a picture of Mars.
Two weeks later I received a four foot by four inch cardboard tube from NASA stuffed full of posters, pictures, drawings, bumper stickers, ball point
pens and mission patches (even though it was an unmanned mission)
The tube had to cost more than a buck and postage on the thing was almost five bucks (our tax dollars at work) God only knows how much all of the
stuff inside cost.
Talk about making a believer out of me!
A while later the “Face on Mars” was all the rage. Again I sent them a hand written letter, with five bucks this time, and asked for some
pictures of the thing.
Two Months later I got a normal letter in the mail from NASA saying it would cost more money to process my request for photographs, that I had sent my
letter to the wrong department, and that they could not process my request without having the specific reference numbers of the photographs in
question.
They also kept my five bucks.
Talk about heart broken.
So I did some research, I got the file numbers they needed, got the address to the department I needed, scrapped up the cash and mailed it all
away.
Two and a half months later I got another normal letter in the mail form NASA. Inside were four Xeroxed copies on normal typing paper of the pictures
I had requested.
Xeroxed Copies.
The pictures in the tabloids were 100 times better than the **** they sent me.
My faith was dwindling.
About this time my folks split up, there was a lot of moving around, other stuff was going on… I forgot about NASA for a while.
When Challenger blew up I sent a letter of condolence to NASA for them and the crews family. I never got a response. Not even a form letter.
When our unmanned probes started to disappear and I began to suspect some sort of conspiracy going on regarding Mars I sent a few more letters asking
what the heck was going on. We’d already landed probes on Mars, what’s the problem?
Those letters to NASA got me a couple of form letters in return. One said they would forward my inquiry on to the appropriate department (whatever
that was) another saying they were still investigating the matter and would make a public announcement when they had concluded their
investigations.
Gone were the days of good Public Relations where you really got your bucks worth, and welcome to the world of “it’s not my department”
“we’ll tell you when we’re ready” and “no comment”
I get better customer service from Wal-Mart.
NASA has a virtual monopoly in this country on space related stuff, and it shows.
