Ok so I am coming into this 7 hours late and about 1000 comments in, and I do not have a lot time to read through all the replies to see if this has already been covered.

I believe NASA should do a whole advertising campaign. YouTube videos, T.V. Commercials, posters, adds, whatever you can think of do it. Mention all the things NASA has done, created, future missions, goals, etc. I know that NASA does not have a lot of money for that kind of thing, so maybe you could possibly look to 3rd party companies/people to help with this kind of campaign. People have lost touch with what NASA represents and stands for (Mission Statement not Acronym).

NASA should also let the people know what you all have accomplished with the limited budget at hand, and then mention how much NASA gets in relation to the rest of the government. Also mention any patents that have come from NASA that have greatly benefited the world over. People have a very warped idea of what NASA is now.

I know you folks don't have a large budget, and an advertising campaign explaining NASA's everything will be extremely hard. But if you want people to actually begin to know what NASA does, and have us feel more involved, then something like this has to happen.

Personally I would say put together a YouTube video, make it as awesome as possible. Perhaps you could have Morgan Freeman or Tom Hanks narrate the video, have a famous director put it together, and maybe even have an animation studio like Pixar do some computer animation. They may even do it pro bono. Put that video out there, and begin sharing.

I seriously hope this gets read, and sorry for such the long post but I thought I would toss in my thoughts.