[X] My Assistant

[elakdawalla]

I just wanted to know if any other UMSFers are going to be in lovely Clear Lake, Texas for LPSC. I'll be there all week, Monday through the middle of Friday. While I don't think there'll be enough of us to generate our own party, perhaps we can plan to all attend one of the various social gatherings and meet up and raise a glass to Doug.

I'm not sure when or where the parties are yet, but they'll be late because they've really packed the schedule following the sessions this year. Here's what's happening in the evenings:
Sunday 5 pm: Registration/Reception
Monday 5 pm: We get to watch the NASA HQ sacrificial lamb get stoned to death by the meeting attendees, i.e. "NASA Headquarters briefing," followed by the "Student/Scientist Reception" from 6 to 8 (free food, I think)
Tuesday 5:30 pm: Special session on the Phoenix landing site, followed by poster session at 7 pm
Wednesday 5:30 pm: Special meeting on "Return to the moon," followed by Cocktail Hour and Buffet Dinner from 6 to 9:30
Thrsday 5:30 pm: Special session on Planetary cartography (Phil??) followed by poster session at 7 pm

So it'll be busy but we've got to have some fun. I'd just like to see a show of hands of who else may be there, then we can talk here after we start arriving in Houston and we figure out when and where the various parties are, and where we should raise the UMSF flag. Well, I don't have a flag, but at least I have a T-shirt.

--Emily

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

At the Europa Focus Group meeting, Torrance Johnson told me a tale which may explain why Pres. Carter never backed a US Halley's Comet mission. After considerable effort, Univ. of NM comet specialist Jack Brandt finally got an audience with Carter's national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and gave him the full-court press, ending by showing him a spectacular photo of Halley. Brzezinski looked at it and grunted, "Hmmph. Looks like a [vulgar term for significant portion of the male anatomy]." That was his only comment during the presentation, and probably his only comment to Carter on the subject later -- and Brzezinski was hardly reflexively anti-science. (Eight years earlier he had written a book called "Between Two Eras: America in the Technetronic Age".)

Space scientists are advised to keep this story in mind whenever they're tempted to believe that their subject absolutely MUST be of interest to the general public.

[ljk4-1]

At the Europa Focus Group meeting, Torrance Johnson told me a tale which may explain why Pres. Carter never backed a US Halley's Comet mission. After considerable effort, Univ. of NM comet specialist Jack Brandt finally got an audience with Carter's national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and gave him the full-court press, ending by showing him a spectacular photo of Halley. Brzezinski looked at it and grunted, "Hmmph. Looks like a [vulgar term for significant portion of the male anatomy]." That was his only comment during the presentation, and probably his only comment to Carter on the subject later -- and Brzezinski was hardly reflexively anti-science. (Eight years earlier he had written a book called "Between Two Eras: America in the Technetronic Age".)

Space scientists are advised to keep this story in mind whenever they're tempted to believe that their subject absolutely MUST be of interest to the general public.

Wait a minute - what photo of Halley did he show? The Giotto mission wasn't until
1986, when Reagan was in office.

And don't you love the arrogance of power - the guy couldn't even make some
courteous comments about the presentation, even if he wasn't into the subject.

And for the scientist - the public doesn't always want or need every little detail
on a subject. I've seen that in way too many lectures for the public by scientists
who are only used to talking to their fellow scientists.

Jimmy Carter is proof that just because you are an intelligent person (at least
more intelligent than a lot of other presidents) does not automatically equal
support of the space sciences. Even Carl Sagan could not convince Carter
to give funds for planetary missions. And to think his message is the one on
the Voyager Interstellar Record. Just like Nixon's signature is on all those
Apollo LM plaques, I suppose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record#Contents