At 2.30 on Monday afternoon, the India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, or Mangalyaan, fired its engines for the first time in 300 days. Just 16 minutes after ISRO got the information, the organisation's 518,000 Facebook followers and 24,500 followers on Twitter got to know about this too.
As the Mangalyaan space probe attempts to drop into orbit around the red planet in a day or so, a great many of those social-media users will eagerly be following ISRO's progress.
The organisation launched its first Facebook page for Mangalyaan on October 22 last year, days before the scheduled lift off, aware of the mounting interest in the project. The page is updated frequently by a three-person team that is in constant touch with the scientists running the Mars mission. "They have the skill for making this content,” said Koteshwar Rao, a scientific secretary at ISRO.
The popularity of the Mangalyaan Facebook page prompted ISRO to open a page for itself in December, as it prepared to launch its first Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.
ISRO’s social media chapter feeds into a growing lay interest in science. Where enthusiasts once had to rely on newspapers and science magazines to learn more about space exploration, ISRO condenses information into shareable infographics on Facebook and Twitter.
“Each individual has a scientific bent of mind,” said Koteshwar Rao, a scientific secretary at ISRO. “Whether as a boy or a college student or as a top notch scientist, everybody has the mind of a scientist. Once you are on media and put content out, of course everyone will want to see it.”
On September 20, ISRO started a daily competition for users to create their own artistic interpretations of Mangalyaan and to cheer the mission on in its final days. Over 1,000 people replied on the first day and 698 on the second. The results, said Rao, would be a surprise.
Another effect of Mangalyaan has been an increase in job applications, from 45,000 applicants in 2005 to 1.4 lakh in 2013, according to a report by the Economic Times.
“It is obvious because even otherwise we would get interest,” added Rao. In 1998, after the Pokhran nuclear tests, the Department of Atomic Energy also saw a spike in applications.
Mangalyaan’s Facebook page shows how it has evolved. Its early posts mainly had technical information, photographs of the orbiter and links to news reports. By the time the orbiter completed two-thirds of its 300-day mission, ISRO’s social media team had caught on to what worked.
From a post a month to daily posts in the last week, here is a brief on what Mangalyaan is all about, from ISRO itself.
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As the Mangalyaan space probe attempts to drop into orbit around the red planet in a day or so, a great many of those social-media users will eagerly be following ISRO's progress.
The organisation launched its first Facebook page for Mangalyaan on October 22 last year, days before the scheduled lift off, aware of the mounting interest in the project. The page is updated frequently by a three-person team that is in constant touch with the scientists running the Mars mission. "They have the skill for making this content,” said Koteshwar Rao, a scientific secretary at ISRO.
The popularity of the Mangalyaan Facebook page prompted ISRO to open a page for itself in December, as it prepared to launch its first Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.
ISRO’s social media chapter feeds into a growing lay interest in science. Where enthusiasts once had to rely on newspapers and science magazines to learn more about space exploration, ISRO condenses information into shareable infographics on Facebook and Twitter.
“Each individual has a scientific bent of mind,” said Koteshwar Rao, a scientific secretary at ISRO. “Whether as a boy or a college student or as a top notch scientist, everybody has the mind of a scientist. Once you are on media and put content out, of course everyone will want to see it.”
On September 20, ISRO started a daily competition for users to create their own artistic interpretations of Mangalyaan and to cheer the mission on in its final days. Over 1,000 people replied on the first day and 698 on the second. The results, said Rao, would be a surprise.
Another effect of Mangalyaan has been an increase in job applications, from 45,000 applicants in 2005 to 1.4 lakh in 2013, according to a report by the Economic Times.
“It is obvious because even otherwise we would get interest,” added Rao. In 1998, after the Pokhran nuclear tests, the Department of Atomic Energy also saw a spike in applications.
Mangalyaan’s Facebook page shows how it has evolved. Its early posts mainly had technical information, photographs of the orbiter and links to news reports. By the time the orbiter completed two-thirds of its 300-day mission, ISRO’s social media team had caught on to what worked.
From a post a month to daily posts in the last week, here is a brief on what Mangalyaan is all about, from ISRO itself.
