NASA wants everyone to know that its staff doesn’t consist of a bunch of stuffy nerds with pocket protectors using joysticks to drive little dune buggies around the surface of Mars while arguing about the quality of CGI in Game of Thrones (which is somewhat disappointing, BTW). Not only do these guys have a sense of humor, they’re also pretty good at being bitchy when refuting tin foil hat/end-of-the-world types.  Who knew?

Now students at NASA’s Johnson Space Center have created a great bit of DIY PR with this “Gangnam Style” parody, designed to “inform the public about the amazing work going on at NASA and the Johnson Space Center.”

We’re just as tired of “Gangnam” parodies as the next blogger, but we’ll let this one slide because it is awesome. Top that, Big Bang Theory.

Even if you do happen to be one of those fortunate few who live under a large rock, we have no doubt that you’ve still heard some of the eschatological nonsense about The Mayans and December 21, 2012, aka “122112″: the cosmic forces of good and evil will throw down, the brown dwarf planet Nibiru will destroy the Earth, Menudo will get back together, etc.

It’s all funny in a sad sort of way–and we have no doubt that it’s already inspired a few low-budget Discovery Channel documentaries. But the highfalutin “scientists” at NASA take all things related to The End of the World very seriously–and they want you all to know that it will be OK.

(Of course they would say that…)

Anyway, NASA clearly believes that it has a responsibility to inform the impressionable public and avoid the risk of wide-scale Doomsday freakouts, so two weeks ago the organization launched a modest PR campaign designed to debunk all the sourceless rumors and keep the holiday shopping season moving along as planned in accordance with the wishes of our faceless corporate overlords.

Cash-strapped NASA doesn’t have the time or money to produce anything like a fancy TV ad (we kid, we kid), but the sci-fi nerds who obviously run the organization did find the time to create a couple of web pages addressing the most frequently asked 2012 questions and allowing a supposed “astrobiologist” to write a bunch of TL;DR answers on the very same topics.

That’s not all, though: things are about to get real at 2 PM today.

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Chances are you’ve heard the name Kickstarter, the fundraising startup that calls itself “the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects.”

The site looks like the leader in crowdsourced funding right now, and we don’t think we’re going too far out on a limb in saying that it has revolutionized the blunt and often ugly art of raising money for artisans and organizers who don’t have much.

The site has helped fund everything from graphic novels to “comeback” albums for troubled jazz veterans to full-length films featured in some of the world’s biggest festivals. We were particularly drawn, via Fast Company, to the tale of a team looking to build an underground park in an abandoned warehouse on New York’s Lower East Side. The video and photos of the “LowLine” project are impressive and, dare we say it, a little inspiring:

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The red planet now has a matching cookie counterpart — or at least a picture of one. The latest installment of Oreo‘s “Daily Twist” campaign, which uses the famous treat to represent major historical events through daily photographs, paid homage to yesterday’s successful Mars landing by NASA‘s Curiosity rover.

Sadly for those of us who would like to recreate the landing with a tiny replica of the rover and a red crème Oreo (and then snack on it), no such cookie is actually available for purchase.

The “Daily Twist” campaign has previously honored events like pride month and the Olympics. To see the full series, take a peek at Oreo’s Facebook page. Or, if you have an idea for an upcoming “twist”, you can submit it here.

Findings from the first-ever Digital IQ Index for the Public Sector are out and the top in “digital competence” are NASA, the White House, and PETA. (So maybe social media is rocket science?)

The analysis was conducted by L2, a membership organization focused on digital innovation, and The George Washington School of Business focused on 100 government offices, advocacy groups, independent agencies, and other organizations. They looked at the organization’s website, digital marketing, social media, and mobile capabilities.

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Photo: Mark Brett, Western News

A couple of weeks ago, we reported on NASA‘s new social media campaign. David Parmet, a social media marketer and self-professed “space geek,” took part in a tweet up at the Kennedy Space Center last week and wrote a post about it.

The shuttle launch has been postponed until the end of the month, but Parmet walked away from the event with a few social media lessons. His thoughts, after the jump.

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NASA has launched (sorry!) a social media campaign that includes a partnership with Foursquare, tweets from the Space Shuttle Discovery, and a tweetup for the shuttle launch next week at the Johnson Space Center.

Last week, Commander Douglas Wheelock became the first person to check-in on Foursquare from space when he did so from the International Space Station, unlocking the NASA Explorer badge.

“You are now 220 miles above Earth traveling at 17,500 mph and unlocked the NASA Explorer Badge,” the notification said. The Earth-bound can get the badge by going to places like the Kennedy Space Center, which was cool until Commander Wheelock got all fancy.

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