Formal Pro-Am & Pro UMSF Involvement? Options

[Thu]

Note that the contribution of UMSF need not be direct involvement in research, but might alternately involve facilitation of the infrastructure of the mission (software, hazard detection, identification of targets of opportunity, [naming rocks ], etceteras) which allows the MSL team to spend more attention on research than they otherwise could.

Cool! To think of being able to participate in a real Mars mission could make many people here excited, including me

[djellison]

Let's have a dose of realism here. There's no way that mission critical issues such as hazard detection, software etc are going to be an amateur contribution - that's highly unrealistic. That stuff is developed by peope within the ITAR legal 'firewall' - and unless you're inside it - you're not going to be a part of it.

The best way forward is to extoll the virtues of the amateur community, highlight what has been achieved ( specifically things such as APOD 'hits', mag covers, or work such as MMB ), and then make the case that putting raw images online as quickly as possible with enough information to make them as usefull as possible - without the help of something like the PCTDB which makes MMB possible today.

MER and NH have set a new standard for outreach w.r.t. people like us. Let's work to make sure MSL can match that - and then work to see other missions (and agencies) begin to match it before pushing the standard higher, or suggesting it be in a place that is not only overly optimistic, but also a legal and flights ops impossibility.

Doug

[climber]

I pretty much agree to what you say Doug,
When I see some PI's and/or people involved in a mission posting here, taking time to answer questions, (and even MY questions) I personaly feel involved as an Am. I guess that the high standards of UMSF make it to those people and this is so far how Ams are involved with Pros, and this is much more than I was expecting say, 3 years ago.

[mhoward]

I tend to agree with you, Doug. The interesting question to me is what can the outside community contribute that the folks inside the firewall don't have time for or couldn't release to the public themselves for whatever reasons (and we see examples of that here every day).

[Thu]

I got it, Doug. We'll do it step by step.