Project Transcribe, The SS Q'n'A to Text Options

[djellison]

A few people have offered to help transcribe the Steve Q'n'A MP3

http://www.rlproject.com/audio/ss_qna_030905.mp3

So - I've 'chopped' it up into about a dozen virtual sections each somewhere between 3 and 6 mins long, and if volunteers want to pick one, post here and then post the finished text when done and I'll string it all together as a PDF when it's done

Section 01 :: 00.00 to 03.36 :: Intro and Mars '01
Section 02 :: 03.37 to 07.29 :: Endurance and Wopmay
Section 03 :: 07.30 to 10.41 :: Burns Cliff and Leaving Endurance
Section 04 :: 10.42 to 14.33 :: Heading South and Purgatory
Section 05 :: 14.34 to 19.00 :: Gusev and Rock Types
Section 06 :: 19.01 to 24.53 :: DD's and Rover Rocking
Section 07 :: 24.54 to 29.10 :: Ultreya and Leaving Husband Hill
Section 08 :: 29.11 to 33.48 :: MB Decay and Rover Life
Section 09 :: 33.49 to 38.32 :: Sci vs Eng and A parked rover
Section 10 :: 38.33 to 43.00 :: What should you be doing?
Section 11 :: 43.00 to 47.16 :: S1K, New PI, Other Landing sites, Carl
Section 12 :: 47.17 to 50.09 :: Outreach, Book Follow up, Thankyou

Green = Transcription Done

Pick whichever you want, and post here the moment you decide, so we dont end up duplicating If I get some time, I'll take a couple and plough thru them. It would be nice to wrap it all into a little PDF article with pictures etc - like an extract from a pretend UMSF Journal or some such publication - and if I'm fortunate enough to do something like this again, I could do it the same way

Thanks in advance to everyone who grabs a number out the hat.

Doug

[Redstone]

Here we go..

SECTION 11. START 43:00.

Doug: There's loads more questions, but really we need to get moving 'cause I'm starving.

Steve: [laughter]

Doug: But, um...the S1K bug...

Steve: [great laughter]

Doug: Does it exist?

Steve: Ah, yeah. Yeah. We...there are a lot of...we use a lot of automated scripts to make the operations process work and there are a number of scripts out there that would...ah, would break with a four digit sol number. But we're already working on that. We're already working on that.

Doug: You're already working on it?

Steve: Yeah. Yeah. We, we see that one coming. We're already working on it.

Doug: I've got to rename all the folders on my external hard drive if you do it...

Steve: There you go! It's the same, its the same problem. Same problem.

Doug: If you had to chose a new project as PI...

Steve: Yeah

Doug: ...anywhere, what would it be?

Steve: I'm not though. [?] I'm not, um...

Doug: Planetary favoritism?

Steve: I don't, I don't think I see myself ever being a PI again. If I could, if I were going to do it, and I don't see it happening, but if I were going to do it, I'm real, real interested by Europa. I'm really interested by Europa. You know, a Europa...Europa Submarine Mission. Europa Lander Mission! That would be great.

Doug: Ignoring latitude, elevation, terrain type restrictions...

Steve: All those nasty practical issues...

Doug: All the things the engineers love...

Steve: Yeah.

Doug: Where would you drop a third rover?

Steve: Identical to the one that we've got?

Doug: Yeah.

Steve: How much landing accuracy do you give me? All that...

Doug: As...same as you've got...

Steve: Same as MER.

Doug: You can probably bring it in a bit...

Steve: No, no, no, no, no. OK. Same as MER. Um, Melas Chasma, you know, down in the Valles Marineris, that was reeeally tempting. That would have been a good one. Its a scary site because a lot of it's covered by sand dunes, like 30% of that site was covered with sand dunes and you come down on the dunes, man, you're screwed. But, it would have been spectacular topography, and really cool layered rocks, so that would have been a good one.

Doug: A lot of people are seeing MSL as being a good mission for the future BUT it seems something of a waste that this design for MER, that is, that is clearly an awful lot more robust than anyone would have dreamed...

Steve: Yeah

Doug: It would make sense to try and reuse the design. Is...?

Steve: Ah, maybe…

Doug: Would it, would it fit under a scout budget almost or..?

Steve: Its tough as a scout budget. I think that would be hard to pull off. You know it's a terrific platform, its worked exceedingly well, but there's so many things you'd like to have different. You know, you'd like to have a regular steady power source instead of relying on gusts of wind. You'd like to have more range, you'd like to have the ability to look for organics, you'd like to have all those things that MSL has! So, you know, you could go either way on this one. NASA's got a limited amount of money to spend, limited budget and I think MSL's going to be a hell of a good mission.

Doug: There is one, I think a fabulous question. When you are looking at the latest images of a new and unseen part of Mars...

Steve: Yeah, which is my favourite part of the job.

Doug: No, no. No, no! Do you ever think of Carl, and imagine...

Steve: Oh, yeah.

Doug: ...what he would say...

Steve: Yeah, oh Carl...

Doug: ...if he was behind your shoulder?

Steve: Carl would have thought this mission was a hoot. He would have LOVED this mission. Some time after we landed - I had, I read Cosmos a long time ago, when it first came out, it was when I was in graduate school - and a long, long time after that, in fact after we had landed, someone copied for me a passage from Cosmos which is, I forget, I think it's in the chapter called "Blues for a Red Planet", but there's a passage in there where Carl, who was working on Viking at the time, rhapsodized about how great it would be to be able to actually MOVE, and wouldn't it be great to be able to move ACROSS the Martian surface. And I had totally forgotten that passage and then someone e-mailed it to me, and reminded me of it and ah, yeah, yeah, I think of Carl a lot. I think he would have loved this mission.

Doug: Almost built for him...

Steve: Its...yeah...

Doug: Perfect for him.

Steve: I think he would have liked it.

END SECTION 11. 47:16