I really enjoyed these texts about space and Neil deGrasse Tyson. "The Case for Space" is important and serves the purpose of discussing why Americans should still be supportive of funding NASA. The discussion of the Hubble is very important in both pieces, especially in "The Case for Space" because he discusses that Americans tend to be all about things that make them feel important, and these "gorgeous images made Americans feel that they were participants in a cosmic discovery." I feel as though the audience for this piece is individuals who are interested in learning about the politics and inner workings of the plan to explore space.

In "The Astronaut Session," Tyson approaches the topic of space in a more relaxed, conversational, and comedic approach to discussing the importance of space. To me, it seems like the audience for this piece are individuals who enjoy learning about space but also enjoy comedy as a source of entertainment and information. Tyson discusses the Hubble again, which emphasizes the importance of its existence in outer space. The fact that there is a 'safe mode' on the Hubble Telescope is significant as well because of how much money has gone into this piece of equipment in order to be able to capture images of the universe. This is one of the most obvious ways that the two pieces overlap.

Tyson’s stylistic approaches are interesting, because the article is written more about the politics and the video was more about the actual experience of being in space but did touch on the importance of the Chinese and their space advancements. I think the video is a way to reach people who may want to learn about space but don’t have the knowledge or ability to read and understand an academic article. However I think the article is a more intellectual persuasive speech that will encourage readers to fight for America’s space program. I think this because at many points the benefits of space exploration and funding were highlighted, such as the production of dialysis treatments, “water purification systems; sensors to test for hazardous gasses; energy-saving building materials” and so forth.
 

            The end of the video, however, the astronaut discusses the idea that America has grown as individuals have been visiting space and currently, we are not one of the top countries in space exploration. The discussion of China advancing themselves technologically is present in both pieces and serves the purpose of making individuals aware of what is going on in the world of space exploration. According to the article, which goes into more detail, Obama has a plan to reach Mars but the dates for his plan are so far away that it may cause issues in the execution of the plan. I believe the purpose of both of these works is to inform and educate readers on the current issues of space and not forget that these things are still happening in our society simply because the race to the moon is long over.