Inaccuracy in reporting astronomy and science Options

[djellison]

The HRSC team have already debunked that. IT's the result of a map projected on a serious of hot/dark pixels -
http://hrscview.fu-berlin.de/5620_0000_artefact.html
http://hrscview.fu-berlin.de/cgi-bin/ion-p...ATE=Update+view

[Juramike]

CNN linking to a Time magazine article on the Dawn mission with a link to Saturn images:

All that made Vesta eminently worth visiting, but the job of getting there would not be easy. Dawn, launched in 2007, went first into solar orbit, then began a widening spiral that took it by Mars, where it picked up a gravity boost, and finally to Vesta, where it eased into orbit on Sunday. (See stunning pictures of Saturn.)

....Maybe 'cause Vesta images aren't so numerous?

[Juramike]

CNN finally reports on Dawn mission (and messes it up): http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/01/dawn.spacecraft/index.html?

(CNN) -- The Dawn spacecraft mission could answer some of the big questions about the Big Bang, NASA scientists said Monday as they released the latest images from the mission.

Would that be the Big Bang that made the Big Crater at the South Pole?

[Explorer1]

Pfft, solar system, universe, whatever! Not all is lost; they do mention the early solar system in the quotes and captions.

[stevesliva]

CNN finally reports on Dawn mission (and messes it up): http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/01/dawn.spacecraft/index.html?


Would that be the Big Bang that made the Big Crater at the South Pole?

Terrible.

Yet I feel like the gamma ray / neutron detector experiment could somehow be related to the big bang in some fashion. Ya know, background radiation and all that.

[Syrinx]

What that sentence has incorrect:
1. Big Bang?
2. NASA scientists did not say that!
3. And not the most recent images!

What that sentence has correct:
1. It was Monday.

[Exploitcorporati...]

Facepalm.

I wouldn't normally pick on something like this, but the realization that this person has a job reporting on such things nearly caused a stroke.

[Stu]

Wow... I mean... wow...

I've taken screengrabs of that, cos they're bound to take it down once all the comments start coming in...!

[Explorer1]

One of the article comments makes a good point, it could be interpreted as Mars being the final resting place, not Endeavour.
Could still be worded a lot better though!

[Stu]

Wow... we thought MSL was a badass... the Russians are planning a SUN rover!!

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/199714.html

[Explorer1]

They should make sure to land at night....

[Paolo]

from Aviation Week (but I have seen this story elsewhere on the internet and I suspect that the origin of the sloppy reporting is a NASA site)
Juno Probe Launched From Cape Canaveral

Upon arrival in 2016, the solar-powered Juno will be hurtling along at 160,000 mph, the fastest man-made object in history.

for us poor metric system oriented humans, that's 71.5 km/s. From the context I take it to be the speed relative to Jupiter at periapsis and orbit insertion. What they mean is that this is faster than Helios 2, which reached 70 km/s at perihelion...
wait a moment... they are comparing apples (71.5 km/s in a Jovian reference frame) with oranges (70 km/s in a heliocentric frame)!
based on this sloppy reasoning, I could say that my top biking speed is 29.8 km/s (Earth's average heliocentric speed)...

[ugordan]

Not to mention the speed at perijove won't be 160 000 mph, but kph...

[centsworth_II]

One of the article comments makes a good point, it could be interpreted as Mars being the final resting place, not Endeavour.
Could still be worded a lot better though!

The article says: "...Opportunity will revisit the rim of Endeavour crater on Mars, where its rover twin Spirit finished its 6-year-long mission in May."

Another comment makes a better point: How can Opportunity "revisit" Endeavour without Spirit having been there first (in the mind of the reporter)?

[Big_Gazza]

Oh dear, Time Science has dropped the ball...

Apparently Mercury is tidally locked and always presents one face to the sun...

Planetary Mystery: How in the World Did Mercury Form?

For all its bland, moon-like appearance, Mercury is a very quirky place. Gravitationally locked so that its rate of revolution matches its rate of rotation, it keeps one side permanently turned toward the sun, in the same way our moon never turns its far side our way. On the sunward half, Mercury thus sizzles at a temperature of 950°F (510°C), while its night side maintains a brisk -346°F (-210°C)

Maybe Mr Kluger should reconsider his choice of vocation?