Steve Squyres Q & A - The Mp3 Options

[Nix]

I have this malfunctioning sound-card that needs replacing and I've yet to hear it (again).

I do remember Doug doing very well and he could become an appreciated space-related reporter.
There was a relaxed mood during that meeting, despite the exitement talking about these precious rovers and their findings.

Nico

[RNeuhaus]

Maybe, someone has already transcripted the Steve's interview, I would like to read it !!!

Rodolfo

[Marcel]

Last friday i couldn't wait: downloaded it at work, took my laptop with me, put it on the seat beside me during rushhour and listened on max. volume.

Thanks Doug, you did an excellent job. Steve obviously enjoyed the talk very much. Seemed to me you were very relaxed: you even said to him you better keep on going, because you are starving. That really showed the atmosphere of equality in the conversation. My compliments again !

[aharris]

Great interview! I put it on my media player and listened to it at work. Very enjoyable and a lot of good Q&A!

Thanks!

[ustrax]

Fantastic piece of scientific journalism Doug!
Maybe you've found your vocation...

And having something on my hand that as witnessed that moment feels good...
Thank you for your words and wait for that bottle, it won't be long (do I send it to the adress on the back of the envelope?)

I imagine Squyres reaction...It must have been a relaxation moment from the rutless inquirer Doug...

I can't avoid sharing it...

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/ustrax3/rav.jpg

I'm happy Squyres is on the science side...In the calligraphy area he would have some problems...

Kidding! Just kidding!

Ultreya Ho!

[djellison]

The winning question was the S1K bug, simply because Steve and I both joked about it - and as dot.dk already has a copy of the book, he's kindly donated it back to UMSF

I want to raise money to send down to help with Katrina clear up - so your call guys - do we do some sort of raffle - 50 tickets at 50 pence a go to raise a guarenteed £25, or do I put it on ebay and the best bid wins?

Doug

[ustrax]

The winning question was the S1K bug, simply because Steve and I both joked about it - and as dot.dk already has a copy of the book, he's kindly donated it back to UMSF

I want to raise money to send down to help with Katrina clear up - so your call guys - do we do some sort of raffle - 50 tickets at 50 pence a go to raise a guarenteed £25, or do I put it on ebay and the best bid wins?

Doug

Can't you make a mention on e-bay that the money is for donation?
Maybe an unexpected bid appears...

[djellison]

Oh yes - you can do that - I certainly would, I link back to here etc - just so people know. Who knows - someone might go "wahg - £200." - and that would be great.

Doug

[djellison]

Downloaded a total ot 225 times That's not bad.

[CosmicRocker]

Congratulations to dot.dk for submitting the winning question, and for being so gracious as to donate the prize back to the Forum! Commendations to you Doug, for putting it to such noble use.

[ElkGroveDan]

I want to raise money to send down to help with Katrina clear up - so your call guys - do we do some sort of raffle - 50 tickets at 50 pence a go to raise a guarenteed £25, or do

I'd buy a ticket but there aren't any pence for miles around these parts.

[dvandorn]

Sur there are, Dan. If you're in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, anyway -- you can get pence from a number of different exchange counters out at O'Hare, which is probably about three to five miles away from you...

I used to live even closer to O'Hare, in Mount Prospect. But I've been up here in Minne-snow-ta for the past ten years...

-the other Doug

[Pando]

Hi Doug, I just now had the chance to listen to this interview, as due to my terribly busy schedule I have had only time to visit the MER forums occasionally....

The interview was absolutely wonderful! Sounded like you both enjoyed the chat Great questions, great answers, and great pace throughout the interview. You covered a lot of ground there!

A huge Thank You

Pando

[edstrick]

Note: I was able to catch Steve Squyres Houston book tour talk on CSpan-2 Book TV this weekend. They first ran it a week earlier, may re-run it a couple more times in following weeks but you never know.

[odave]

I finally got some free time today and listened to the interview. Like everyone else, I thought Doug did a great job - thanks for doing it!

Towards the end, when asked about Carl Sagan, Steve mentioned that someone sent him an e-mail with a quote from Cosmos about a future rover mission. I cracked my copy open and think I found the passage - hopefully I transcribed it correctly. Have a read, it's very prophetic...

Excerpt from Cosmos by Carl Sagan (1980), “Blues for a Red Planet”, pp. 129-130:

There is another way to investigate Mars and the full range of delights and discoveries this heterogeneous planet holds for us.  My most persistent emotion in working with the Viking lander pictures was frustration at our immobility.  I found myself unconsciously urging the spacecraft at least to stand on its tiptoes, as if this laboratory, designed for immobility, were perversely refusing to manage even a little hop.  How we longed to poke that dune with the sample arm, look for life beneath that rock, see if that distant ridge was a crater rampart.  And not so very far to the southeast, I knew, were the four sinuous channels of Chryse.  For all the tantalizing and provocative character of the Viking results, I know of a hundred places on Mars which are far more interesting than our landing sites.  The ideal tool is a roving vehicle carrying on advanced experiments, particularly in imaging, chemistry, and biology.  Prototypes of such rovers are under development by NASA.  They know on their own how to go over rocks, how not to fall down ravines, how to get out of tight spots.  It is within our capability to land a rover on Mars that could scan its surroundings, see the most interesting place in its field of view and, by the same time tomorrow, be there.  Every day a new place, a complex, winding traverse over the varied topography of this appealing planet.

Such a mission would reap enormous scientific benefits, even if there is no life on Mars.  We could wander down the ancient river valleys, up the slopes of one of the great volcanic mountains, along the strange stepped terrain of the icy polar terraces, or muster a closer approach to the beckoning pyramids of Mars.  Public interest in such a mission would be sizable.  Every day a new set of vistas would arrive on our home television screens.  We could trace the route, ponder the findings, suggest new destinations.  The journey would be long, the rover obedient to radio commands from Earth.  There would be plenty of time for good new ideas to be incorporated into the mission plan.  A billion people could participate in the exploration of another world.