NASA Posts Vintage Space Foundation TV Spots

Vignettes Feature Celebrities and Politicians Touting Space Accomplishments

In the early 1980s, the Space Foundation created a series of public service announcements (PSAs) to inform people about the many tangible benefits of NASA's space program. The television spots showed how the benefits reach all facets of everyday life, from advanced medical imaging to improved weather forecasting.

The cast of supporters the Space Foundation found to appear in the short spots was eclectic - Itzhak Perlman, Ray Charles, Willie Nelson, Frank Sinatra, Chuck Yeager, John Madden, Gloria Steinem, Charleton Heston, and former Presidents Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and Richard Nixon.

The politicians and celebrities in the videos represented a wide range of industries and interests, but the common theme that brought them together was a belief in the importance of a robust program of space exploration and the benefits that come from such an investment.

To see the Presidential spots, click here.

To see the celebrity spots, click here.