TOUCHDOWN ON MARS

Touchdown on Mars

James Ryan Mckinney

Language & Literature Department, State College of Florida

ENC 1101: Written Communications I

Professor Anastasia Bojanowski

March 7, 2021

Touchdown on Mars

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, has successfully landed

the largest rover to date on Mars. The rover, aptly named Perseverance considering its nearly 300

million mile trip, (Strickland 2021) is fully operational and preparing to carry out multiple tests

and research projects. The rover is expected to operate for years to come and will expand our

understanding of the red planet with its extensive array of scientific equipment, as well as

experimental technologies. (Amos 2021 ; Strickland 2021) This amazing achievement has been
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covered by many news organizations, though few have done quite as thorough and enjoyable of

an examination as CNN and BBC.

CNN (2021) is an American news organization that reports on national and international

news. It focuses on a wide variety of subjects to include scientific, political, and artistic stories.

CNN attempts to appeal to a wide range of people across demographics and education ranges,

and is broadcasted on tv and online. BBC (2021) is a news organization that is headquartered in

the United Kingdom. It reports on a variety of subjects that are national, and international and is

designed to appeal to a wide range of persons, though it often provides more in depth data,

suggesting BBC attempts to strive for those with more than just a passing interest in a given

subject.

It should be assumed that these prestigious news organizations would provide a similar

method of reporting on the same subject, however, that is not the case. Both articles contain

information that the other left out and convey that information in subtly different ways. In order

to decipher which is best, it must first be deduced how they are different and to whom they are

attempting to reach with their reporting.

Both articles are expected to explain what has landed on Mars, why it is there, and what

that means for the scientific community. BBC and CNN both do a superb job of explaining the

rover’s capabilities and the purpose of the mission, though notable differences do exist. BBC

tended to give more in depth technical information while CNN would simplify the information

and then use the saved space for more informational pictures and inspirational or exciting quotes

from engineers and leaders involved with the project. This is best exemplified by noting how

BBC dedicated an entire section to the landing site itself and its importance. The “Why is Jezero
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Crater so interesting” (Amos) portion of the article provides detailed information regarding the

landing site. CNN, in contrast, does not even mention why the site is relevant, but rather focuses

on the difficulty of the landing site and the huge accomplishment and technologies that were

required to achieve it. “Perseverance targeted a 28-mile-wide ancient lake bed and river delta,

the most challenging site yet for a NASA spacecraft landing on Mars. Rather than being flat and

smooth, the small landing site is littered with sand dunes, steep cliffs, boulders and small craters.

The spacecraft has two upgrades -- called Range Trigger and Terrain-Relative Navigation -- to

navigate this difficult and hazardous site.” (Strickland) BBC provides more technical

information than CNN does and would certainly be appreciated by anyone who wishes to dive

into an in depth understanding regarding the mission and what can be achieved. CNN, by

contrast, provides a better informational format for those that are being introduced to the subject

of interplanetary missions for the first time.

With regards to credibility, CNN and BBC would appear to be on par with each other.

Imagery used in both articles come from official sources such as JPL and NASA.

“"Perseverance's sophisticated science instruments will not only help in the hunt for fossilized

microbial life, but also expand our knowledge of Martian geology and its past, present, and

future," said Ken Farley, project scientist for Mars 2020, in a statement.” (Strickland) This is a

good example of CNN’s use of experts to provide broad understanding, which helped to

establish a simplified approach without losing the meaning of the mission or its importance. In

contrast, BBC used its experts to improve technical understanding. “"In some lakes you can get

microbial mats and carbonates interacting to form these big structures, these large layered

mounds," explained science team-member Dr Briony Horgan from Purdue University in West

Lafayette, Indiana."If we see anything like that kind of structure in Jezero, we'll be making a
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beeline straight for it because that could be the holy grail of Mars astrobiology,"” (Amos) BBC’s

approach of being more technical is well detailed here with this direct quote from an expert. Both

CNN and BBC, while telling the same story in a different way, are equal regarding credibility.

It could be argued that an emotional appeal, when speaking to a general audience, is far

more effective than a technical one. This is another area where the two articles are both

outstanding, though differ slightly. “"Percy," as the spacecraft is affectionately called at mission

control…”(Strickland) This quote shows that, right from the start, the CNN article is going to try

to emotionally capture and inspire while also encouraging the reader to anthropomorphize the

interstellar robot. CNN uses this method more routinely and freely throughout the article, though

BBC certainly does its part as well to attempt an emotional appeal. “Engineers at NASA's

mission control in California erupted with joy when the confirmation of touchdown came

through.” (Amos) BBC uses what space it can to emotionally grasp at the reader, though it

dedicates the lion’s share of its space to a more analytical approach. To further this point,

another quote from BBC shows how even when providing emotional appeals, it still provides

data as well. “"We are in a nice flat spot. The vehicle is only tilted by about 1.2 degrees," said

Allen Chen, who led the landing team. "So we did successfully find that parking lot and have a

safe rover on the ground. And I couldn't be more proud of my team for doing that."” (Amos)

“"Because of today's exciting events, the first pristine samples from carefully documented

locations on another planet are another step closer to being returned to Earth," said Thomas

Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.” (Strickland) CNN

again shows its focus on broad concepts, rather than an abundance of technical data with the

previous quote. Both articles provide mass amounts of appeal to emotional state, though CNN

does it more consistently and thoroughly.

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.

To conclude, both articles provide a clear and coherent understanding of what the rover is

and why it is on Mars. Neither article is inherently superior in totality. CNN leans more towards

a plea to pathos while BBC uses a plea to logos. Defining which is best is, then, entirely

subjective and is up to the reader to decide. Those who are looking for a broad understanding

would prefer CNN while those that are seeking a more in depth understanding of the mission

would prefer BBC.

References

Amos, J. (2021, February 19). Mars landing: NASA’s Perseverance rover in ‘great shape’. BBC.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-56119931

Strickland, A. (2021, February 19). Perseverance rover has successfully landed on Mars and sent

back its first images. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/18/world/mars-perseverance-

rover-landing-scn-trnd/index.html