Press material from the Chandra web site flows to NASA's portals as well as to news and science education websites. Press coverage resulted in over 2,000 articles in the print press and on web sites during 2012. We note particularly an increase in referrals to the Chandra public site from web-based science news and blogs. The press release packages, which include scaffolded content for a range of audiences (from scientist and science writer to non-expert and casual readers to school-aged children), are enhanced by the production of videos that are utilized by online news outlets. Feature articles and blogs provide additional context and linkages.
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The Chandra press staff coordinate closely with EPO. Press material from the Chandra web site flows to the NASA portal and the NASA-Chandra site as well as other news and education online outlets. Press coverage results in thousands of articles in the print and online media annually. We note particularly an increase in referrals to our public site from web-based science news and blog sites.
Robust media coverage leads many visitors to our web site where they can delve deeper into the science story through a series of related products. The press release packages are enhanced by the production of video podcasts that are increasingly utilized by online news outlets. Feature articles and blogs provide additional context and linkages for the press releases and are available through our web site.
To expand audience diversity and respond to a user need (for example, our web metrics show a top NASA referral comes from their web pages for children), we collaborate with the European Union's Universe Awareness (UNAWE) program on "Space Scoop", a project recasting Chandra releases into child-appropriate language for worldwide translation and distribution with 36 international members including Canada, Ireland, China, Brazil, and India. In the US, Space Scoop is carried by Smithsonian Kids and National Geographic Kids web sites and further disseminated through the UNAWE-US partners at Haverford and Carthage colleges.
We utilize Chandra's excellent X-ray images -developed originally for press and image releases- to widen appeal and educational use by presenting them in the context of a broader science picture. For example, we have collaborated with Hubble, Spitzer, and many NASA or other telescopes to create multi-wavelength images that have been used on the NASA portal and NASA-TV, Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), High Energy Astrophysics Archive Research Center (HEASARC), disseminated as exhibits to museums and planetariums, and used in informal and formal education products such as popular science books, text books, and electronic products.
Availability of these high-quality images as well as original illustrations and animations, typically prepared for press efforts, has enabled Chandra science to be featured in broadcast productions and documentaries on the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), the History Channel, the Smithsonian Channel, and Discovery Channel, and countless local broadcasts.
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