The scene at the Artemis II launch site in Florida. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Later today, NASA will launch its Artemis II mission, sending astronauts back to the moon (albeit on a flyby mission, no landing) for the first time in decades.
It’s the sort of news story that has media outlets giddy with excitement. After all, it isn’t often that you get good news and compelling visuals on a pre-determined schedule.
And while every TV news outlet is planning coverage of the launch, ABC News and its corporate sibling National Geographic is betting that it can deliver what others cant: Scale on broadcast TV and streaming, and perhaps most significantly: Exclusive access inside the spacecraft itself.
ABC says that its coverage of the launch will air on ABC, and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+, and Hulu. But the secret weapon may be National Geographic, which will also have live coverage (as will NASA, of course).
NASA and Nat Geo signed a nonreimbursable Space Act Agreement that will bring custom designed cameras and audio equipment from National Geographic into the Orion spacecraft. The media brand, which has a long history of space coverage, trained crew members Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen in visual storytelling techniques to document their lunar journey firsthand, with the footage set to run on Nat Geo’s social platforms, amplified by ABC News, culminating in a documentary later this year.
So while ABC News will have live coverage from Houston (courtesy of its ABC station) and from the Florida launch site, it will also have footage from inside the spacecraft to stand out from the crowded lineup of competitors.
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