NASA, Spacesuits, and Crisis Communication

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) found itself as the subject of heavy criticism in late April because it cancelled an all-female spacewalk, citing the lack of suitable spacesuits. As you can imagine, this caused an uproar among all kinds of people who felt that this error was rooted in sexism.

Photo courtesy of CNN.com

As it turned out, NASA had a good reason to replace one of the two female spacewalkers. Anne McClain, who had planned to wear a sized large suit for the spacewalk, decided that she needed to wear a medium instead at the last minute. There was not an available medium suit at the time, according to NASA.

Of course, because this all-female spacewalk would have been historic and would have occurred during women's history month, its cancellation was an outrage for people who were hoping to witness this historic milestone for women. All major news outlets wrote about the cancellation, including CNN, Fox, the New York Times, the Washington Post, MSNBC, and more.

However, the most vibrant response came on Twitter, where users were not shy with expressing their disappointment with NASA's actions. Even Hillary Clinton tweeted about it!

Pulled from @HillaryClinton on Twitter

The problem in this crisis is that the lack of available suit seemed to only be a problem with women astronauts. There was a perfectly usable suit available for the man who replaced McClain in the spacewalk.

For days following the announcement, Twitter users made sure to make everything relate back to NASA's perceived failure to accommodate for McClain, especially when a post referenced NASA's support for women.

Pulled from @NASA on Twitter

"Good thing she had the right size spacesuit," a user said, responding to NASA's highlight of a prominent female astronaut.

This is a mild example of a flood of reactions from Twitter users.

NASA responded to the outrage with a few tweets, in an attempt to explain exactly what happened in a way that they probably hoped the public would understand.

Pulled from @NASA on Twitter

Pulled from @NASA on Twitter.

In this tweet, NASA acknowledged the public's disappointment in the situation and attempted to share information about why the decision was made.

Later, this tweet from NASA hoped to pose a quick answer to the question, "did they really just not bring enough suits?"

NASA's next move in handling the crisis was to make it clear that McClain herself made the recommendation that she should not participate in the space walk. She served as NASA's spokesperson on the matter through making a video to explain and participating in media interviews.

On March 27, McClain tweeted, "the decision was based on my recommendation. Leaders must make tough calls, and I am fortunate to work with a team who trusts my judgement. We must never accept a risk that can instead be mitigated. Safety of the crew and execution of the mission come first."

In handling the PR crisis that ensued after the cancelling of the spacewalk, NASA did many things admirably.

1. NASA was very transparent with explaining the process that led to the decision. Facts were widely shared and easily accessible.

2. NASA used McClain as a spokesperson. In my opinion, hearing it from her is the only thing that might make people okay with what happened.

3. NASA did not make the crisis bigger than it was with their response. The response was serious yet not panicked, which kept the crisis from spinning out of control.

4. NASA tailored its response on different social media platforms. In fact, the response was focused mostly on Twitter and news outlets, because that is where most of the outrage was expressed. Facebook and Instagram had a much milder reaction, so NASA did not post as much on those platforms.

5. NASA made itself available for media and interviews.

However, in handling the crisis, NASA also could have improved on a few things.

1. There was no real corrective action taken in this scenario. Rescheduling the space walk would have done wonders in calming the crisis.

2. NASA did not interact with individuals who commented about this topic on social media. Acknowledging the tweets, even just with a "like," would help the audience feel heard by NASA.

3. NASA never apologized for any actions taken.

4. NASA never acknowledged past wrongs and past claims of sexism within the company.

5. The response would have been more effective had NASA tweeted out clarifying information earlier than it did. A whole day had passed after the cancellation announcement before this information became available.

Therefore, in this scenario, I would recommend that NASA reschedule the space walk, apologize for what happened and acknowledge the historical significance of the event, and interact with commenters more.

However, lessons that all PR professionals can take from NASA's response to crisis include providing a wealth of information, designating a reliable spokesperson, and reacting according to severity and responsibility of the crisis.