Video of NASA astronauts, who successfully landed on the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday, ringing the NASDAQ Tuesday’s opening bell has drawn criticism on Twitter. The critics accused the space authority of not ‘reading the room’ and being oblivious of Black people’s pain.
While Saturday’s successful SpaceX Crew Dragon launch had drawn admiration and praise from people, the excitement waned overnight. In fact, the successful docking of the astronauts on the ISS went without much notice. This was because at the time, nerves were more frayed and the unrest surrounding George Floyd’s death protests were mounting.
Without any sign of abating soon, the situation grew worse. Reports of police clashing with protesters filled the media and more people started backing the Black community openly. Before long, a fine line was drawn separating those who were for and against the movements. By Monday, 1st June 2020, lootings and violent incidents spiked.
The situation kept boiling and the United States’ President address did not help matters. Donald Trump had said in part:
“Today, I have strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets. Mayors and governors, both established and overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled.
“If the city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residence, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
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Many had seen the statement as a threat to use force on American citizens. Tuesday’s social media campaign #BlackOutTuesday had been aimed at leaving platforms free of distracting content. This is why people had been angered by NASA’s post of the astronauts ringing the opening bell of NASDAQ; the electronic stock exchange.
Congratulations to our #LaunchAmerica crew for successfully reaching the @Space_Station from @NASAKennedy, the first time Americans have done so since 2011. Here they are ringing the @NASDAQ opening bell from space: pic.twitter.com/9ofLBFxkkG
— NASA (@NASA) June 2, 2020
Twitter users mentioned that it was bad timing on the part of NASA. Others said it was insensitive because NASA’s wide audience would be distracted from more pertinent issues going on in the country. There were a fraction of comments that commended the action as a great achievement for science. They argued that the criticism against NASA was unwarranted.
However, the overwhelming number of people did not appreciate the Tweet. They condemned it, tagging it as a poorly timed post. Some even accused the organization of being tone-deaf.
We have seen examples of tech companies like Google, EA, and PlayStation canceling their events; because they felt the time was not right with all that is going on in the US. Many expected NASA to recognise the protests as well, hence, the criticism.
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