MOSCOW, January 24 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Space Agency said Friday it has opened accounts on Facebook and Twitter to improve its public relations.
“Creating official pages on social networks will improve the dialogue between Roscosmos and Russians on current issues and will also convey information on the space industry to the public,” Roscosmos said in a statement.
The agency’s first tweet on its Twitter account – @fka_roskosmos – covered Wednesday’s daily operations on board the International Space Station. All the posts are in Russian.
Roscosmos has uploaded over a thousand videos to its YouTube channel over the past four years, including daily briefings on the agency’s activities.
NASA has long had a presence on social media sites, and won an award for its live coverage on Twitter of the Phoenix craft’s descent and landing on Mars in 2008.
The agency maintains over 100 Twitter feeds, including individual feeds for a variety of space missions, such as its two active Mars rovers, Curiosity and Opportunity.
Thirty-nine NASA astronauts also have a public social media presence, according to the agency’s website.
