Abstract
The purpose of the present study is to illustrate how social networking service (SNS)
such as “Twitter [twitter.com]” works as a tool enhancing our communication between
space and the ground. To do so, by using a text mining technique, we analyzed text
data of an astronaut ’s daily reports, short compositions posted by the astronaut on
Twitter, and reactions from ground to his tweeting (the primary author is the astro-
naut himself. He wrote daily reports during his first space flight and tweeted during
his second long duration space flight). In the analysis, we focused on the frequency
of the use of some specific words and on changes in the astronaut’s verbal expressions
over time. Results suggested that SNS communication had an impact on the astro-
naut’s word choice when he narrated his experience in space and also contributed to
facilitating interaction between the astronaut and ground. Based on these findings, we
speculated that, due to its easiness, promptness and bidirectionality, SNS has great
potential for becoming a powerful and fundamental tool to reduce our psychological
distance to space, and by this token, contributes to developing scientific interests of
general public in space exploration. This implies that, through SNS communication,
we have already begun to experience space as a part of our everyday things on Earth.
