It's LONG been evident that BBC News is far too wedded to its on-screen graphic strap, but it was particularly infuriating in the last minute or
so before the splashdown: understandably, the camera framing wasn't rock-steady, so the capsule under its parachutes was at times right at
the bottom of the picture, where we couldn't see it because of the BBC graphics - and someone pressed the wrong button, so we heard someone in
the studio saying something like "can we drop the straps?" (meaning the
bar across the bottom of the screen), and someone else replying "no,
can't drop the ticker".
Come on, BBC! Yes, I know the headline ticker is important for people
just tuning in, or whatever. But at significant times like this ...
On 11/04/2026 01:20, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
It's LONG been evident that BBC News is far too wedded to its on-screen
graphic strap, but it was particularly infuriating in the last minute or
so before the splashdown: understandably, the camera framing wasn't
rock-steady, so the capsule under its parachutes was at times right at
the bottom of the picture, where we couldn't see it because of the BBC
graphics - and someone pressed the wrong button, so we heard someone in
the studio saying something like "can we drop the straps?" (meaning the
bar across the bottom of the screen), and someone else replying "no,
can't drop the ticker".
Come on, BBC! Yes, I know the headline ticker is important for people
just tuning in, or whatever. But at significant times like this ...
I was watching on the BBC News website to begin with, and set my PVR to record Sky News.
Both were affected by the dreaded strapline problem. You'd think that
news studios all over the world who are takng NASA's feed would have
spotted that NASA's cameras weren't framing the picture with a safety
margin for ticker straplines, and would have done one of two things in response: either drop the strapline for the few minutes when they were playing the video feed, or else zoom the picture out slightly so the
whole of the NASA frame is visible at a slightly smaller size within the
news studio's own output that includes the strapline.
I wonder if in general news cameramen are instructed that if possible
they should try to frame their pictures with some "safety space" so
nothing that is critically important appears in the bottom bit of the
screen in case straplines obscure it.
What was interesting on the Sky News footage, at times when the craft
itself was not obscured by the strapline, was that on the IR camera, you could see the craft repeatedly "blowing off" with jets of hot gas
pointing *upwards* (at about 30 degrees to vertical), when you'd think
that any thrusters would be pointing downwards to provide retardation in addition to the parachutes. But we're only armchair viewers, not NASA experts...
On 11 Apr 2026 at 16:03:50 BST, "NY" <me@privacy.net> wrote:
On 11/04/2026 01:20, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
It's LONG been evident that BBC News is far too wedded to its on-screen
graphic strap, but it was particularly infuriating in the last minute or >>> so before the splashdown: understandably, the camera framing wasn't
rock-steady, so the capsule under its parachutes was at times right at
the bottom of the picture, where we couldn't see it because of the BBC
graphics - and someone pressed the wrong button, so we heard someone in
the studio saying something like "can we drop the straps?" (meaning the
bar across the bottom of the screen), and someone else replying "no,
can't drop the ticker".
Come on, BBC! Yes, I know the headline ticker is important for people
just tuning in, or whatever. But at significant times like this ...
I was watching on the BBC News website to begin with, and set my PVR to
record Sky News.
Both were affected by the dreaded strapline problem. You'd think that
news studios all over the world who are takng NASA's feed would have
spotted that NASA's cameras weren't framing the picture with a safety
margin for ticker straplines, and would have done one of two things in
response: either drop the strapline for the few minutes when they were
playing the video feed, or else zoom the picture out slightly so the
whole of the NASA frame is visible at a slightly smaller size within the
news studio's own output that includes the strapline.
I wonder if in general news cameramen are instructed that if possible
they should try to frame their pictures with some "safety space" so
nothing that is critically important appears in the bottom bit of the
screen in case straplines obscure it.
What was interesting on the Sky News footage, at times when the craft
itself was not obscured by the strapline, was that on the IR camera, you
could see the craft repeatedly "blowing off" with jets of hot gas
pointing *upwards* (at about 30 degrees to vertical), when you'd think
that any thrusters would be pointing downwards to provide retardation in
addition to the parachutes. But we're only armchair viewers, not NASA
experts...
I saw the "blowing off" too, on the BBC News app. It puzzled me; thanks you for the explanation!
Didn't occur to me that they were deliberate; I assumed they were just
parts of the fiery process. Though I suppose if manoeuvering jets_were_
still being used, you probably don't want them pointing into the
inferno, as it might interfere with/damage their operation. But as NY
says, we're only armchair engineers!
On 11/04/2026 22:51, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
Didn't occur to me that they were deliberate; I assumed they were just
parts of the fiery process. Though I suppose if manoeuvering jets_were_
still being used, you probably don't want them pointing into the
inferno, as it might interfere with/damage their operation. But as NY
says, we're only armchair engineers!
They possibly have to discharge any of the remaining gases once landed, before the rescue crews approach the capsule?
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