NASA, over the past 30 years, has gone to astronomical lengths to ensure the public is well aware of its work, especially young people. Adapting to a new generation, NASA announced on Wednesday that it will be hosting a livestream exclusively on Twitch, a platform synonymous with various forms of gaming.
The world is about to get the full Twitch experience in low Earth orbit. The stream, scheduled for 11:45 a.m. next Wednesday, will feature astronauts Don Pettit and Matt Dominick. Petit is currently on the ISS, and Dominick returned from the station last October. These two brave starfarers will wade into a new frontier for NASA: a Twitch chat. They will be fielding questions from users, hopefully about life on the ISS. While the space agency’s Twitch account has over 1.3 million subscribers, it has never broadcasted anything specifically for the platform. Brittany Brown, director of NASA’s Office of Communications Digital and Technology Division, said in a release:
“This Twitch event from space is the first of many. We spoke with digital creators at TwitchCon about their desire for streams designed with their communities in mind, and we listened. In addition to our spacewalks, launches, and landings, we’ll host more Twitch-exclusive streams like this one. Twitch is one of the many digital platforms we use to reach new audiences and get them excited about all things space.”
Twitch isn’t the only way that NASA is getting with the times. The space agency launched its own free streaming service, NASA+, replacing NASA TV in November 2023. NASA stated that the streaming service had four times the viewership of its now-retired TV arm. It’s more vital than ever for NASA to get the public engaged and supportive of the agency.
The Artemis program’s struggles have been well-publicized, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk wouldn’t hesitate to cancel the return to the Moon. The return of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams has become the latest political stick to bash NASA. The space agency is now getting heat for the failed Boeing Starliner crewed test flight. Wilmore and Williams have been stuck on the ISS since June last year. SpaceX is now rushing to return the two astronauts home for no reason but to posture.
