[X] My Assistant

[swhobbs]

I'm wondering if anyone has thought about putting together a book with the research and images created in this forum?

I think the space literature needs a book of the rarer, non officially released images that NASA don't process, as well as highlighting the great work members of this forum do.

Any thoughts?

Steve

[Exploitcorporati...]

I really like the idea of the work posted at UMSF appearing in a printed compendium of some sort. I agree with Doug that the economic viability of such a project at this point would be extremely limited, and that the copyright issues may be substantial. Nonetheless the contributions of UMSF members are already a very significant body of work, with appearances in technical documents, broadly visible public websites, books, and the cover of Aviation Week. It might be very interesting in the near future to publish a volume documenting the participation of the amateur community (and general public) in planetary exploration via image processing and rudimentary analysis, especially in a very visually accessible and artistic sense. This forum in particular has fostered very productive communication between members of the planetary science community and amateurs, and has allowed some otherwise unlikely characters (myself included) to experience a genuine sense of somehow adding to the growing body of human knowledge of these many worlds. It might make for a pretty compelling story! Taken in conjunction with details of the technological advances since 1995 in software and computing power that have brought formerly impossible image manipulations within reach of anyone with a laptop, I think we might eventually have something marketable...and something that will draw people into greater interest and participation. Cool idea, maybe give it some time.