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  Selling naming rights for NASA rockets

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Author Topic:   Selling naming rights for NASA rockets
jimsz
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Posts: 616
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Registered: Aug 2006

posted 09-10-2018 11:53 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for jimsz   Click Here to Email jimsz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Interesting idea but I would be against it.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has directed the space agency to look at boosting its brand by selling naming rights to rockets and spacecraft and allowing its astronauts to appear in commercials and on cereal boxes, as if they were celebrity athletes.

...during a recent meeting of a NASA advisory council, Bridenstine announced he was setting up a committee to examine what he called the "provocative questions" of turning its rockets into corporate billboards the way advertisements decorate NASCAR race cars.

"Is it possible for NASA to offset some of its costs by selling the naming rights to its spacecraft, or the naming rights to its rockets?" Bridenstine said. "I'm telling you there is interest in that right now. The question is: Is it possible? The answer is: I don't know, but we want somebody to give us advice on whether it is."

Jim Behling
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Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 09-10-2018 02:52 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Not feasible. I believe any money received would go to the treasury general fund under current laws. That is what happened when NASA flew commercial payloads.

Civil servants (astronauts) can't do endorsements or receive gifts.

mode1charlie
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Posts: 1169
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: Sep 2010

posted 09-10-2018 03:21 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for mode1charlie   Click Here to Email mode1charlie     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Terrible idea.

For commercial rockets, that's obviously no problem — private companies are free to do what they like in this regard. But for government rockets/missions/astronauts, that is entirely contrary to how a public program is supposed to work.

Cozmosis22
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Posts: 968
From: Texas * Earth
Registered: Apr 2011

posted 09-10-2018 05:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Cozmosis22     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There is a huge billboard-size SpaceX advertisement printed on the water tower at Pad 39A. Guess that will have to come down? Will let the lawyers and politicians hash this out as Administrator Bridenstine requested.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-10-2018 06:14 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Pad 39A and all of its facilities (including the water tower) is currently under a 20-year lease to SpaceX, giving them full control of the facility.

Bridenstine was referring to NASA-controlled assets.

Jim Behling
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Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 09-10-2018 06:48 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Cozmosis22:
There is a huge billboard-size SpaceX advertisement printed on the water tower at Pad 39A.
All the launch pads have the logo of the operating contractor on it no matter who owns it.

oly
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Posts: 905
From: Perth, Western Australia
Registered: Apr 2015

posted 09-11-2018 07:15 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for oly   Click Here to Email oly     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
This is where the craziness begins, even if, for example, Coke were to pay for an entire mission, if they could paint a rocket to look like a giant can or bottle, with logo in full view, there will be folks who think nothing of it and folks that wont. But like Jim states above, the revenue probably returns to the government, so in reality the mission cost is not offset, because NASA do dot get their expenses repaid.

Next they will want to allow satellites or the ISS tow giant advertising banners, or billboards on solar panels.

And if an astronauts likeness does appear on a cereal box, who gets paid? The astronaut for the use of their image, NASA for the use of someone's image, or the federal government for the use of a NASA astronaut's image?

Who holds the copyright for the image? The photographer, the party that gets paid for the image, or are the images to be considered the same as NASA images now? Can someone freely use the image of an astronaut taken from a cereal box without copyright breach?

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-11-2018 07:35 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Since the mid-1990s, U.S. law has prohibited obtrusive space advertising.
"obtrusive space advertising" means advertising in outer space that is capable of being recognized by a human being on the surface of the Earth without the aid of a telescope or other technological device.
With regards to endorsement deals, Bridenstine suggested the astronauts would be representing NASA in the same way that professional commercial astronauts represent their companies (e.g. Chris Ferguson and Boeing). Appearances on cereal boxes and the like would be arranged through NASA for the benefit of the agency.
"The question is this: if those [commercial] astronauts are not limited in the way they are able to promote themselves, then should NASA astronauts be limited in the way they promote NASA?"
Under Bridenstine's proposal, the funds raised would go toward offsetting NASA expenses. That may require Congress to pass legislation, but there is some precedent for that; Congress has previously authorized NASA to collect and retain public funds to support specific projects. Bridentstine requested the NASA Advisory Council establish a new regulatory and policy committee to research the issue.

And nothing about this would change copyright law. If I take a photo of an active astronaut today, the copyright for that image belongs to me. If a NASA photographer takes the photo in a professional capability, then NASA owns the copyright but the photo, if released, is public domain (though restrictions still apply for commercial use). If a company arranges through NASA to photograph an astronaut for the purposes of putting that astronaut on a cereal box, that photo belongs to the company, unless copyright is reassigned as part of the agreement with the space agency or the company otherwise releases its rights.

Jim Behling
Member

Posts: 1463
From: Cape Canaveral, FL
Registered: Mar 2010

posted 09-11-2018 08:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Jim Behling   Click Here to Email Jim Behling     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by oly:
...there will be folks who think nothing of it and folks that wont.
If they are commercial rockets or satellites, then there is no limitation.

Fra Mauro
Member

Posts: 1586
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002

posted 09-11-2018 09:19 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Fra Mauro   Click Here to Email Fra Mauro     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think it would really be a negative for NASA. The only benefit might be if the monies raised would be used to add to NASA's budget.

Why just stop with NASA? Maybe they can paint the flight decks of aircraft carriers as well? The possibilities are endless...

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-11-2018 10:31 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The Department of Defense operates under different rules than NASA. For example, the DoD has in the recent past paid U.S. sports teams to honor servicemen and host patriotic displays as part of a soft-sell recruitment campaign.

NASA cannot (or is under the impression it cannot) do the same thing. It can take part in "NASA Night" promotions at local games, but no funds are exchanged. And it cannot (or is under the impression it cannot) advertise beyond educational and public outreach activities.

If nothing else comes out of this, I hope it results in more freedom for astronauts to comment on their day-to-day-life without the concern it might appear as an endorsement. For example, the astronaut who championed development of NASA's Space Exploration Vehicle concept was unable to comment on the Matchbox toy version of the same, less his comments be misconstrued as an endorsement.

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-11-2018 11:00 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
More on this topic from The Verge:
Imagine: it's 2020, and NASA is about to launch its next robotic rover to Mars. But its name isn't something simple like Curiosity or Sojourner. Instead, it's the Michelin Tire Trailblazer, named for the company that bought the mission's naming rights and the famous Michelin man is adorned on the side of the spacecraft. During the mission, NASA astronauts live stream from space, stopping briefly to regale viewers about the merits of their Breitling watches: "It's the best way to keep time above the Kármán line."

This is only a hypothetical scenario right now, but it's in line with concepts that NASA will start exploring over the next few months.

Fra Mauro
Member

Posts: 1586
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002

posted 09-11-2018 11:21 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Fra Mauro   Click Here to Email Fra Mauro     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Remember when cosmonauts went EVA to inflate a Pepsi ad?

Robert Pearlman
Editor

Posts: 42981
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 09-11-2018 03:48 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A number of companies have turned to the Russian space program to advertise, including QVC, Nissin (Cup Noodles), Pizza Hut, Radio Shack, Element 21 (golf company), Tnuva (Israeli dairy company) and Kodak.

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