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elfsI'm watching on NASA TV thanks to streaming video (and a rather obscure but nicely powered Helix server) and I'm just blown away. I'm a bit frustrated; every picture from Pathfinder went straight to the 'net raw back in 1997. I remember playing with the raws as they came down, loading them into Photoshop and enjoying pulling out the details, following the recipes that JPL published. I want those pictures those guys are seeing on the big board, not just the picture-of-a-picture from the JPL cameras in the room. And I want them now. And I want Justin Ray to tell me where to find them! Or JPL. Somebody! I'm totally thrilled by this.
And the fact that everything is going so well, that 12 minutes of 32kbs data came down, with great photos and all the telemetry of the landing, is just too much. NASA needs this kind of good stuff.
I went downstairs to watch the news, and it came and went. For a few minutes, CNN and FOX had the "first pictures from Mars" on, and then they turned to other things. Isn't this the most thrilling thing on the news right now? Who gives a fuck that Sex and the City is going off the air? Isn't that news for another day, really? Isn't it just TOO COOL that we've made it to Mars, and it worked, and a big functional robot is about to wander around?
I guess not. And the bimbo from FOX... what is she on, anyway? "Well, we're not scientists so we don't see in this pictures what the NASA people can see." They're not cheering at anything you can't figure out with the grey matter you supposedly have between your brain! "Look, the colors are right!" "Look, the camera is pointed the right way!" "Look, it's freaking Mars!"
My cynicism might be a little strong but that feels like a FOX party line. I can just see the set-up for a few months from now: "Your taxpayer money bought these geeks their thrills, but what do lay people get out of it?"
Anyway, I'm going to go look at the little red planet and enjoy our success.
And the fact that everything is going so well, that 12 minutes of 32kbs data came down, with great photos and all the telemetry of the landing, is just too much. NASA needs this kind of good stuff.
I went downstairs to watch the news, and it came and went. For a few minutes, CNN and FOX had the "first pictures from Mars" on, and then they turned to other things. Isn't this the most thrilling thing on the news right now? Who gives a fuck that Sex and the City is going off the air? Isn't that news for another day, really? Isn't it just TOO COOL that we've made it to Mars, and it worked, and a big functional robot is about to wander around?
I guess not. And the bimbo from FOX... what is she on, anyway? "Well, we're not scientists so we don't see in this pictures what the NASA people can see." They're not cheering at anything you can't figure out with the grey matter you supposedly have between your brain! "Look, the colors are right!" "Look, the camera is pointed the right way!" "Look, it's freaking Mars!"
My cynicism might be a little strong but that feels like a FOX party line. I can just see the set-up for a few months from now: "Your taxpayer money bought these geeks their thrills, but what do lay people get out of it?"
Anyway, I'm going to go look at the little red planet and enjoy our success.
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Pay No Attention To That Possible Frontier...
Date: 2004-01-04 09:21 am (UTC)But space... that's got "future revolution" written all over it. Even a lot of the work needed to get there causes major shifts in technological advancements that can leave old and slow behemoths gasping for breath as they're left behind by younger, more open minded entrepeneurs. It's those "youngsters" who have the potential to make billions, money used to support more of those outlandish adventures, which in turn...
But you get the idea.
I suspect the same people will be crying out for strict government control of civilian space flight once the X-Prize begins to bear fruit, even as such advances reduce thevery costs they complain about.
~Yohannon~
MARS!
Date: 2004-01-04 10:47 am (UTC)correction
Date: 2004-01-04 10:49 am (UTC)Mars vs. our own backyards... a loosing battle
Date: 2004-01-04 10:50 am (UTC)Face it: the Great Unwashed don't care about science, exploration or the advance of human development. Anything happening in their own back yards is much more important.
People are so dumb sometimes.
true to an extent...
Date: 2004-01-04 03:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-04 03:40 pm (UTC)Here are the raw images
Date: 2004-01-04 04:42 pm (UTC)Looks like they have the first 30 odd nav cam pictures on the site. I haven't started playing with them yet.
It's a wonderful day on Mars!
no subject
Date: 2004-01-04 04:51 pm (UTC)Why on *earth* were you listening to FOX?? I mean, FOX is not journalism. It hasn't been for a long time. How could you expect anything from this "news" source other than "we're spending tons of money on worthless space projects...oh, btw, here's another conservative pundit we're hiring." Jeez, I stopped listening to them ages ago.
cable-less
Date: 2004-01-04 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-01-04 11:57 pm (UTC)