The MECA story, A place for speculation |
The MECA story, A place for speculation |
Jul 31 2008, 10:22 PM
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The Poet Dude Group: Moderator Posts: 5551 Joined: 15-March 04 From: Kendal, Cumbria, UK Member No.: 60 |
Seriously, hasn't anyone else got any thoughts (dismissive or otherwise) on the "Have you briefed the President's Science Advisor?" (re MECA) question by C Covault? I am NOT going all woo-woo here, don't worry, I just thought it was an odd thing to ask... To my ears it sounded like C C was suggesting, subtly, to the panel that he had heard "something" about the MECA analysis and wanted them to comment. The question was brushed aside - rather uncomfortably I thought - and the discussion quickly moved on, but it seemed like a bit of a Moment to me. He actually began, if I remember correctly, by asking where the "MECA guys" were, asking if they had "been hidden under the table"... cue uncomfortable laughs from the panel...
Again, I have to stress, in case anyone thinks I'm 'suggesting' anything, I'm not getting all Muldur here, I was just struck by how out of the blue the question was, and wondered if anyone has any thoughts on it... -------------------- |
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Aug 2 2008, 04:18 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 646 Joined: 23-December 05 From: Forest of Dean Member No.: 617 |
Talk about admin headaches - it can't be much fun to be a PI and discover that someone on the team's said something that they shouldn't have to a journalist. I suspect more of that annoyance will be directed towards the team than the journalist.
What puzzles me is that, given the pretty feeble press coverage of the mission so far (only one front page article on the sensationally superb EDL, for instance), what could be likely to get significant MSM coverage? Methane? Well, maybe. I can't see carbonates or nitrogen compounds making the front page, though. Believe it or not, the public are really pretty disinterested in the chemical make-up of Martian regolith, until it gets so complex it falls into a different discipline altogether; and as we know, MECA can't really do that. As I was about to post this, I noticed it's hit Slashdot... just in time to make the tabloids on Sunday here in the UK. That's not as bad as it sounds, though, IMO -- it'll be wrapping fish and chips* by Tuesday, I suspect. *metaphorical fish and chips, that is... >nostalgic sigh for the days when it came wrapped in real newspaper< -------------------- --
Viva software libre! |
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