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NASA wins 2 Emmy Awards for InSight Lander, Demo-2 mission coverage

Allison Matyus
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NASA just joined the ranks of Game of Thrones by winning two Emmy Awards for its coverage of the InSight Lander and Demonstration Mission 1. 

NASA received the awards on Sunday from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the Outstanding Original Interactive Program and Outstanding Interactive Program categories. 

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The InSight Lander won for coverage of news, web, education, television and social media efforts, according to a press release from NASA. 

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InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport) is a Mars mission with the goal of studying the interior of the Red Planet. The mission landed on the surface of Mars last December and has been conducting studies ever since. 

NASA and SpaceX’s coverage of Demonstration Mission 1 also won. The mission was a test flight for the SpaceX Crew Dragon rocket to the International Space Station (ISS). While it only carried equipment up to the ISS, the goal is still to carry a crew of astronauts to the International Space Station for the Demo-2 mission with NASA.

The coverage of the launch involved engaging with social media users through live broadcasts. 

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine tweeted a response to the awards on Sunday, September 15, saying, “Congrats to those who contributed to the news, web, education, television and social media coverage of this landing on the Red Planet.” 

More great news! @NASA won an #Emmy for 'Outstanding Original Interactive Program' coverage of the @NASAInSight mission to study Mars. Congrats to those who contributed to the news, web, education, television and social media coverage of this landing on the Red Planet. pic.twitter.com/gCey1Dm9vi

— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) September 16, 2019

NASA beat out popular late-night talk shows for the Outstanding Interactive Program category, which included Conan, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, The Late Late Show with James Corden, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. 

For the Outstanding Original Interactive Program category, NASA was nominated with the likes of the HQ Trivia App and the Netflix series You vs. Wild. 

The remaining categories of the 71st Emmy Awards will be announced during the live show which airs on Sunday, September 22, at 5 p.m. PT on Fox. 

Game of Thrones leads the pack for the program with the most amount of nominations, totaling 32 nominations. HBO is the leading network in nominations, with 137 total for shows like Veep and Chernobyl. 

Netflix has the second-highest network total with 117 nominations, including ones for Ozark, Russian Doll, and House of Cards.

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Allison Matyus
Allison Matyus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…
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