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Inaccuracy in reporting astronomy and science
djellison
post Jan 19 2007, 12:35 PM
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QUOTE (nprev @ Jan 12 2007, 07:27 PM) *
Premise here is to follow the late developmental stages of a medium-class project (say Mars 2011?) all the way until launch, complete with headaches, squabbles, joy, and triumph. If done correctly, this would be truly compelling viewing and thereby a huge boon for UMSF.


Well - technically the NOVA 'Mars Rocks' and 'Welcome to Mars' programs kind of did that - An anxious Steve watching one of the Mini-TES getting shock tested etc.

Doug
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climber
post Jan 19 2007, 12:38 PM
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QUOTE (djellison @ Jan 19 2007, 01:35 PM) *
Well - technically the NOVA 'Mars Rocks' and 'Welcome to Mars' programs kind of did that - An anxious Steve watching one of the Mini-TES getting shock tested etc.
Doug

Yep, and that's why I recognized Adam and the gang the other day in LA smile.gif
May be I'll be in the MSL's biggrin.gif


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Guest_PhilCo126_*
post Jan 23 2007, 12:29 PM
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Not Astronomy, but spaceflight this time ...
On 23rd January, a Belgian newspaper published 2 full pages on the upcoming Moon program and that China will beat the USA to the Moon by 2024... while Japan & India will just start with unmanned probes in 2009.
Moreover, even the UK will start a separate program " Moonlight " to start exploring the Moon by 2010...
And the Moon should be point of departure for a Mars mission ...
Top of the bill, the article stated that it was possible to buy real estate via crazyshop website and that Israeli's were buying it all ...
Seriously...
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Tesheiner
post Jan 31 2007, 04:02 PM
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A local newspaper published this monday an article about Corot's "first light".
The "bad astronomy" in this case was due to an incorrect (imo) translation of "Corot sees first light" into something like "Corot detects the first light of the stars". rolleyes.gif
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djellison
post Feb 9 2007, 01:19 PM
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You would expect space daily to do better than put a picture of THEMIS the INSTRUMENT (in space aboard Mars Odyssey since '01).... On a page about THEMIS the MISSION ( 5 spacecraft launching this month to study Solar interaction with the earth )

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/THEMIS_L...Feb_15_999.html
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ngunn
post Feb 9 2007, 01:38 PM
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Yes you would, but...

Hands up anyone (other than Doug and Emily) who doesn't find all these acronyms confusing? They fail completely in their purpose as names because they are 1/ on the surface meaningless 2/ unimaginative and therefore unmemorable and 3/ not even unique, apparently. I'm just glad Cassini is called Cassini and not something like SOASHIVS.
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nprev
post Feb 9 2007, 02:25 PM
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QUOTE (djellison @ Jan 19 2007, 04:35 AM) *
Well - technically the NOVA 'Mars Rocks' and 'Welcome to Mars' programs kind of did that - An anxious Steve watching one of the Mini-TES getting shock tested etc.

Doug


That's true, but unfortunately PBS only reaches a very small audience here in the US, and they don't do much advertising. It would be a lot better if one of the major commercial networks here (CBS, NBC, ABC or Fox) did something similar with all the bells & whistles involved in the reality TV genre.


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dvandorn
post Feb 14 2007, 11:58 PM
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I have a slightly different issue to bring up, though it sort of fits in with this general topic.

Last night, The Science Channel (formerly known as Discovery Science) ran a show on its Tuesday night "space lineup" that talked about how Cassini was *scheduled* to arrive at Saturn in 2004, and in the meantime let's look at the Pluto Express probe that's currently being designed...

And then there is the "By Jupiter" documentary they run once a month or so, which is an hour-long promotion of the "upcoming" JIMO mission.

Why not just run documentaries on how VentureStar will soon replace the Space Shuttle, or even better, run some of those old ones which promise us that men will walk on the Moon sometime in our lifetimes?

In other words, there is either a really severe lack of up-to-date documentaries on space and astronomy, or the people who run The Science Channel are so ignorant of what's really happening that they think it's OK to keep repeating these dated programs, which refer to probes that never were and never will be.

mad.gif

-the other Doug


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nprev
post Feb 15 2007, 12:14 AM
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Yeah...I've noticed that too.

I think they're trying to squeeze every last bit of return-on-investment from these old chestnuts, accuracy/currency be damned. Unfortunately, they almost certainly won't ever get called on it. Specialized cable channels like this are designed for relatively small audiences, so informed criticism from the knowledgeable few among those is unlikely to amount to much pressure to reform from their viewpoint.

People like UMSFers are watching these shows already knowing the details of what they should tell us & hoping for a few nuggets of new information. The real tragedy is that the majority of the audience (which is watching out of genuine curiosity & a desire to learn) is getting outdated information which will warp their understanding and potentially diminish their interest/arouse suspicion if they later receive contradictory information. In this way, it's a real disservice. sad.gif


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Guest_PhilCo126_*
post Feb 15 2007, 08:13 PM
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Luckily there're some good programs around as well wink.gif
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Guest_John Flushing_*
post Mar 1 2007, 03:16 AM
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QUOTE (As old as Voyager @ January 8th, 2007, 02:15 PM) *
It's a shame that tonight 60 million or so people in the UK and many other people around the world were told Hubble shone a beam of light out into the depths of the universe and studied how it was bent by the gravity of dark matter billions of light years away!

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that despite all of our modern technology, we simply do not have a light bulb powerful enough to do something like that.
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ElkGroveDan
post May 23 2007, 04:39 AM
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This one's not TV but I though it deserved notice:

Telegraph U.K.
Broken wheel reveals water on Mars

By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent, Last Updated: 1:59am BST 23/05/2007

.... Spirit, and Opportunity, its twin, have been sending back information and images from the surface of Mars for more than three years. They were only expected to be there for three months when their missions started in 2004....


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Stu
post May 23 2007, 05:28 AM
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QUOTE (ElkGroveDan @ May 23 2007, 05:39 AM) *
They were only expected to be there for three months when their missions started in 2004....


Easy mistake to make; the poor lad obviously didn't know that the final design review removed the little R2D2 rockets from the rovers' wheels that were going to blast it back off Mars and bring it back to Earth again... tongue.gif


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ElkGroveDan
post Oct 3 2007, 09:59 PM
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Here's a good one. I saved a pdf in the event AP corrects the story:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071003/ap_on_...6eFZ.CCaMNK2ocA

Asteroid belt is named for George Takei
By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press Writer
Wed Oct 3, 9:07 AM ET

A piece of outer space named for George Takei is in kind of a rough neighborhood for somebody who steers a starship: an asteroid belt.

An asteroid between Mars and Jupiter has been renamed 7307 Takei in honor of the actor, best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original "Star Trek" series and movies.

"I am now a heavenly body," Takei, 70, said Tuesday, laughing. "I found out about it yesterday. ... I was blown away. It came out of the clear, blue sky — just like an asteroid."

The celestial rock, discovered by two Japanese astronomers in 1994, was formerly known as 1994 GT9. It joins the 4659 Roddenberry (named for the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry) and the 68410 Nichols (for co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura). Other main-belt asteroids have been named for science fiction luminaries Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.
......


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nprev
post Oct 3 2007, 10:20 PM
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I was afraid of this. George Takei has cornered most of the accessible resources in the Solar System!!! tongue.gif

EDIT: After rereading the byline, this is obviously a Gross error...


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A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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