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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ Cassini general discussion and science results _ Reorganization of the Cassini forums

Posted by: elakdawalla Jan 13 2012, 11:52 PM

Today Bjorn and I did a lot of maintenance on the Cassini forums, which had gotten very untidy. I wanted to mimic the way the MER forums work, where the raw images discussion followed the ongoing mission, and wanted to separate conversations about science results and image processing. This is more or less how discussion has been happening in the Cassini forum anyway, but there was no rhyme or reason to which thread discussion was happening in, and it was difficult to figure out where to post.

So here's the new philosophy. There are three newly named subforums.

Cassini's ongoing mission and raw images: This used to be the "Icy Moons" subforum but now contains more. In here is one thread for each rev. As Cassini orbits Saturn, near each apoapsis, Jason Perry (volcanopele) writes a "http://ciclops.org/news/looking_ahead.php?js=1" article describing the next rev. The publication of that article makes a good point to start a new topic discussing the next rev. All of the posts relating to raw images from 2011 and 2010 have now been subdivided into the relevant threads for each rev. Please note the naming convention for each thread. I've attached a text file that has all the rev numbers and corresponding dates and targeted encounters.

Cassini general discussion & science results: This used to be the "Cassini General" forum. It's pretty much what it says; it's science discussion or mission discussion that is separate from the day-to-day operations of the spacecraft.

Cassini PDS: This is a new subforum where we've placed discussions of processing ISS and VIMS data from the PDS. Instead of dividing things by rev here, it seems to have been working in the past to divide things by target. For instance, there were preexisting topics on Dione and Enceladus image products, and this is where they now live.

Only the Titan subforum has been left unchanged. There are only about 4 people who regularly post in this subforum, and you seem to have worked out your own way of organizing things. That being said, it might not be a bad idea to bring your discussion over to the raw images forum with its rev-by-rev discussion. I'm curious to hear what you guys think about that.

revs_and_targeteds.txt ( 4.67K ) : 1290

Posted by: ngunn Jan 14 2012, 10:20 AM

I'd like to say thank you for leaving the Titan subforum intact. Far from relocating Titan discussion to REV-specific threads I'd like to see it move the other way. Here's why: If I want to locate earlier posts about, for example, diapirism on Titan I have to remember the relevant REV or flyby number - I think it was T65. This becomes harder and harder as the forum continues to grow. I'd prefer to see long running threads specific to the object of discussion rather than have everything salami-sliced by time. Titan topics tend to be slow burners. Threads such as 'Titan's Changing Lakes' or 'Atmospheric Chemistry' provide places where continuity can be maintained over the long unfolding of the seasons in the Saturn system. Moreover the thread titles have the merit of telling you what's actually in them.

There may not be many regulars in this particular corner of UMSF but we have some notable 'irregulars' and plenty of readers. As one who was first directed here by Jason Perry when he wound up his 'Titan Today' blog, the Titan subforum has always been my virtual home (and bookmarked link).

Posted by: Juramike Jan 14 2012, 01:46 PM

I agree with Nigel.

Posted by: titanicrivers Jan 16 2012, 08:45 PM

Hi Emily. As one who tries to regularly contribute to the Titan blog I would also have to agree with Nigel Gunn above. To a significant extent the blog has already adopted Jason’s “Looking Ahead” post, the Cassini “Mission Overview Flyby” and ‘quick look flyby facts’ pdf file as timeline and topic generators. Raw image posts naturally flow from this framework and sometimes generate discussion that may span many months as the story unfolds. Published paper posts with links (often from the senior author) or meeting abstract links often punctuate and liven-up the timeline topics and generate discussion making it a great blog overall in my opinion and not one that should be changed.
Titan images probably are best kept in the Titan subforum to avoid duplication. However the new Cassini PDS subforum should be a great aid to us bloggers who are still learning how to appropriately process Cassini images into relatively scientifically accurate and esthetically pleasing images!

Posted by: belleraphon1 Jan 19 2012, 01:10 PM

I agree with ngunn, Juramike, and titanicrivers. I lurk here a lot and love the way it is presently organized.

Craig