ESA Press Efforts, Moved posts Options

[cndwrld]

Thanks, Paolo. Very interesting. There were some things which I was happy to see had gotten some attention there.

[peter59]

"Happy New Year from the Cassini-Huygens Project Team
The members of the Cassini-Huygens Project Team wish you a very happy and prosperous 2008. It will be our pleasure and privilege to share the results of this most exciting mission with you throughout the coming year."

Pleasure and privilege to share the results . These words should be the motto for ESA.
Darmstadt, Darmstadt Do You Read ? Darmstadt, we have a problem.

[ustrax]

Stu comes to the party and breaks all the dishes...

[Stu]

Stu comes to the party and breaks all the dishes...

I wasn't intending to break any dishes, just have a quiet word with a few people in a corner of the kitchen while someone mopped up sick in the hallway...

[ustrax]

Don't take that on the negative side...there are dishes that MUST be broken in order to go for some new ones...
It is a brilliant article Stu!

[jasedm]

I think your sentiments are shared by many Europeans Stu - ESA is firmly in the shade in terms of space science 'glasnost'
I'm not sure at all how the budget is spent, but I reckon there are literally hundreds of I.T. students out there with an interest in Space sciences who would work for free to make any images publicly available straight away, in return for the kudos of work experience at ESA.
Perhaps it's more a case of ESA not being properly aware of the thousands and thousands of people who want to see every single pixel of every shuttered image regardless of whether it's a 'wow' picture or not.
My idea would be to get the British Ramblers Association to lobby ESA - there's not a linear millimetre of footpath in the UK that they don't insist on having total access to at all times (just ask Madonna)

[Guest_PhilCo126_*]

Well, one thing is sure, NASA doesn't have anything compared to ESA's excellent ESA Bulletin ;-)

[Stu]

Well, one thing is sure, NASA doesn't have anything compared to ESA's excellent ESA Bulletin ;-)

Absolutely agree, and I give that a lot of praise in the piece. Only fair.

[ustrax]

Hey Stu, were you asking for this?

Overview of ESA communication activities in 2008

[cndwrld]

Folks, I am not European. So while a lot of people may agree with you inside Europe, and maybe even inside the agency, pushing from the outside or the bottom can only effect so much. If everyone who posts negative comments about ESA is really interested in getting results, how could some changes actually get made?

As with so many things, the change has to come from a change in attitude at the top. And the people at the top are, quite rightly, effected by political and budget issues.

ESA is controlled by the ESA Council. It is composed of a representative from each member state, and they control the money spigot as well as set goals. If you live in an ESA member state, you can find out who that representative is and attempt to make your voice heard. This is typically someone from the country's space agency or aerospace agency. Finding out the names of the ESA Council members is a bit like finding out the names of the Illuminati. But I'm sure you can do it. And they probably want to hear what their citizens are interested in. One could even provide the contact information to like minded individuals, along with talking points. Maybe you even know of a good forum where such information could be posted. The next council meeting is in November.

It is also possible to write letters to ESA. I imagine the Director General gets a lot of mail, and his office probably likes to hear about what interests people from the various member states. Especially if they are also sending copies of letters that were sent to the council members. Especially the council members from the member states that provide the biggest section of the budget. The ESA headquarters address is on the ESA web site:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/ESATE4UM5JC_index_0.html

Such people, and organizations, still are driven by physical letters. E-mail, not so much. So if a change is really desired, spend a few minutes and a stamp. If their mail on an issue suddently jumps from zero to 100, they'll notice. And just maybe, once they know there is a desire for a policy change, you'll get the change you want.

[Stu]

Another sign of ESA's improved and improving Outreach efforts and attempts to connect with the space enthusiast community and the public...

Daniel Scuka has just emailed me to let me know that ESA will be blogging the re-entry of the "Jules Verne" ATV from now until, well, whenever it's all over!

Go to:

http://www.esa.int/blog

(or)

http://webservices.esa.int/blog/blog/1

[ElkGroveDan]

Any idea who on the ground might be able to see this?

[Stu]

Any idea who on the ground might be able to see this?

Haven't ben able to find that out... that'd be a good question to email to the blog...

[imipak]

ISTR reading, around the time JV was undocked, that re-entry would be over the traditional South Pacific spacecraft graveyard. Naturally the area's used because of the very low population density. In that case there won't be many eye witnesses, apart from those in orbit.

[Stu]

I think I read somewhere that a plane's going up too, to observe the re-entry with special 'scopes and cameras...?