N.D Tyson Response

            At first, I found Tyson's "The Case for Space.." to be quite daunting.  I thought it would be boring and hard to get through because I did not think I would find any interest in what he had to say.  However, by the time I had finished reading the text and watching the video, I found myself completely agreeing with him.
             Both of Tyson's assigned works were about advancements in space, a topic I have never really thought that much about.  They are also both pointed to the same group of people with different sub-groups.  What I mean by that is that Tyson wants the general public of America to get on board with promoting the idea of space travel and technological advancements.
             The sub-group for "The Case for Space.." would be the more political and intellectual crowd that likes to be informed.  This is because Tyson constantly refers to the Cold War and Kennedy's presidency and how they relate to the "Space Race".  Tyson also spoke of the differences between Kennedy's involvement with space in comparison to Obama's.  Kennedy "sold" space to the public by using the Soviet Union's advancement as a sort of incentive. "Kennedy's speech was not simply a call for advancement or achievement; it was a battle cry against communism. He might have simply said, "Let's go to the moon: what a marvelous place to explore!" But no one would have written the check. And at some point, somebody has got to write the check.".  Obama, however, decided to cut the program and now the Chinese are making developments that would put our space accomplishments to shame.  Tyson appeals to those with political and national pride by discussing how we should not let ourselves fall so far behind in space advancements.
             The sub-group in the video however would typically be those who are not very political and prefer their information in the form of entertainment.   Tyson appeals to this audience because he discusses the relatively same topic (space) but with comedians at his side to add their funny little remarks.  This keeps the conversation light and entertaining enough to keep the target audience interested while also still getting his point across.  He does this by setting the topic and having the comedians run wild with it as long as they stay relatively on track.  Then, at some points, he becomes more serious to make sure the audience has not forgotten the true topic of the show, but then goes back to the humor in order to not lose his audience completely.  Due to this target audience and format, Tyson does not use politics as part of the information provided, probably out of fear that the audience will lose touch with the topic and want to leave or stop watching.  
             I enjoyed noting the remarkable flexibility Tyson has when it comes to relaying similar information to different audiences.  He really tries hard to include all type of people to make sure they are informed but also receiving the information in a way that works for them.  The text was more serious, political and informative whereas the video was lighthearted, funny and not as informative.  Both forms, however, have the audience leaving with the feeling of having learned something and I think that is Tyson's overall goal; to educate his audiences about space, no matter how small.