LCROSS Lunar Impact |
LCROSS Lunar Impact |
Oct 9 2009, 02:19 AM
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#1
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
T minus 9 hrs. 10 min till impact. NASA TV coverage begins @ 1015 GMT (0315 PDT). Link to coverage here.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Oct 10 2009, 04:43 AM
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#2
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8784 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Well...It's definitely far far far too soon to rush to judgement about any aspect of the science return. Consider the frenetic pace of the data acquisition period, and now the big job of reducing this vast mass of data begins...and only after that's done can analysis begin. "Instant science" JPL-style really only works with pictures, and that aspect of the LCROSS payload was mostly for nav/post-impact localization.
However, it's hard not to say that expectation management was not well performed. Perhaps it should be called the "Kohoutek Effect": an interesting and/or unusual astronomical or space event is oversold in 'ooh-aah' potential to the general public, and the result is disappointment...even worse, a percieved lack of credibility ("But they PROMISED Kohoutek would be the comet of the century!"...or even "Does a fizzled flash mean no water?") As has been stated earlier, it's damn hard to predict the results of a novel experiment or event, and if the outcome WAS known with certainty then it wouldn't really be science. The lesson that should be learned here for future space would-be spectaculars is beware the Kohoutek Effect. It can be done; JPL's getting pretty good at it. It may explain ESA's PR efforts in part as well; one way to manage expectations is to not foster any, but that's the other extreme from today's experience. There's a balance to achieve. Wow; that sure was a long way to say "patience, grasshoppers!", huh? -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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