Faux News screws up Shuttle launch reporting

[krispos42]

I could not believe how badly they covered the launch. I put them on because CNN and CNN-HN had not switched yet to the live launch coverage. And with my kid running around, I didn't get to change it when it got closer to launch. We got home about 9 minutes before launch.

Anyway, at about T - 10s, I picked Sam up and showed him the launch (he's 2). I noticed that Faux had some telemetry (speed and range) at the bottom of the screen along with a mission timer and I thought, "oh, that's kinda cool".

The the Shuttle took off, and the errors sprang to life immediately. First off, the downrange display running on the bottom of the screen bore no resemblence to the NASA radio communications that Faux News was also broadcasting live. The NASA flight controller's periodic downrange reports were about a quarter of what Faux News' display was, maybe less, and it seemed to be getting worse as time wore on.

Next, even though the controller used the name of the Shuttle (Discovery, just FYI) repeatedly throughout the launch, Faux News insisted on calling the shuttle Atlantis in the lower-screen infomation display.

Finally, at the same time they were calling Discovery 'Atlantis', they called the mission 'STS-115. I did some checking, and STS-115, using the Shuttle Atlantis, launched on September 9th, 2006. Tonight's launch was mission STS-116.

More of the ongoing war against science? You be the judge.

[Warpy]

1. Accuracy has never been a priority at Pox News

Just think, if you've got Pox on cable/satellite, you could have watched the whole thing on the NASA channel without all the bafflegab!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. NASA TV is cool

Some nice person here at DU put up the link to streaming video at NASA TV.
I don't have cable. I refuse to get it, since I can see the good parts on the net.
The broadcast channels wouldn't cut to it, I am sure.

[KT2000]

8. It was great!

Don't know if this is the first time they had a camera filming the rocket being released but that was really cool.
A night launch really is thrilling.
Their visual coverage was the best ever.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. The War on Reality

Truthiness is much better than Truth, no?

[Buzz Clik]

4. Well, krispos42, you don't have to be a rocket scientist,

you just have to pay attention to understand our launches. I get the strong impression that Fox puts very little emphasis on being informed. The just don't pay attention.

[Occulus]

7. They went to court to win the right to lie to their viewers

Every lie they utter is intentional. Never forget this.

They went to court to protect their 'right' to lie. They were successful; the plaintiff lost his case.

[johnaries]

5. LOL! They must have tried saving money by re-running

the Atlantis launch banner. After all. Faux viewers don't pay much attention to details or inconsistencies.

[Shipwack]

6. The Florida Today website had streaming coverage...

Video and audio... only a quarter of the monitor size, though. I mention it mostly because "floridatoday.com" is easy to remember. Not surprisingly, they also have a good "Space Section", with info on upcoming launches, tips on where to view, etc.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. They said it banged into Jesus's forehead before it went into orbit around the flat Earth.

Faith-Based science reporting, you know.