Dawn approaches Vesta, Approach phase, 3 May to 16 July 2011 Options

[ElkGroveDan]

I agree. I find this attitude of, "there's nothing for you in these images" to be a bit condescending.

[volcanopele]

If that marks the beginning of daily image releases, then yes, July 3 is fine (except of course, any gaps in image coverage)

[ngunn]

"there's nothing for you in these images"

"It's a local shop, for local people. THERE'S NOTHING FOR YOU HERE."

[elakdawalla]

I don't think that daily image releases are any part of the Dawn team's plan.

[ngunn]

The measure of public involvement needs to be part of the case for funding of future missions. Can we do anything about that?

(Dawn team, go go go!)

[ElkGroveDan]

I get the feeling that it's going to be more like the MGS MOC images -- highlights once a week or so.

[djellison]

Right now it's like OSIRIS on Rosetta. Uwe Keller is involved in both.

[Bart]

They will have to upload it all to PDS eventually, right?

[elakdawalla]

Yes, that's true. No matter how stingy the PI (and there are lots of stingy PI's) the data has to get to the PDS eventually, and "eventually" has been a shorter and shorter period of time with each passing decade. Time's passage gives more and more people the bandwidth and skills to do cool stuff with PDS data. I care less and less about quick release of images for "pretty picture" purposes; I even lay off of Cassini and rover raw images knowing I'll see and be able to manipulate better versions in under a year, with each PDS release. But there's really nothing better than numerous, rapid image releases to allow enthusiasts to follow along with the ongoing, unfolding drama of an active space mission that's exploring a whole new unseen world (or, in the case of the rovers, new unseen landscapes and vistas). It looks like we're not going to be permitted to enjoy that at Vesta. At least I can trust that I will be able to enjoy that unfolding drama at Pluto, and on Mars with Curiosity, and (I think) above Jupiter's poles with Junocam. Hopefully if we make enough of a stink we'll be able to enjoy it at Ceres. The thrill of opening up each new image and seeing something new -- or not, and knowing you're going to have to quell your anticipation for a little while, waiting for celestial mechanics to bring your ship a bit closer to your goal -- shouldn't be something that only the few people intimately involved in a mission get to enjoy. That's the old way of doing things. The excitement of opening up a new image and a new view of a new world can be spread around Earth -- why not spread it, and create enthusiasm for more missions to explore more strange new worlds?

[eoincampbell]

I hereby add my voice to this -request for images-

[Holder of the Tw...]

...there IS NOTHING to be discerned...

We could discern that everything at this point is going according to plan. A little bit of reassurance. No reason to suspect otherwise, of course, but still ...

... would your point of view change if I told you that the Dawn team plans to release no further images until July 3?

I hope that's not really the case.

[Greg Hullender]

I remember when Pioneer 10 flew past Jupiter, almost 40 years ago. I'd eagerly waited a year and a half for it, but the released pics in the papers were awfully poor--worse than pics from ground-based telescopes. I had to wait almost two months for a Sky and Telescope issue that showed the beautiful photos, blowing away anything ever seen from the ground.

Voyager was a little better because I was at Caltech during the Saturn flybys (thirty years ago) and JPL set up monitors all over campus so we could watch the raw footage. The quality was so poor, though, that I was stunned when I saw the beautiful published prints--again, a month or two later.

Twenty years ago, when the first Hubble servicing mission reported great new photos, I used the Internet to find those pics on NASA's site. It was the first time I used the Internet for anything but e-mail, and I was blown away to see such beautiful pics within days of the mission. Still, it was just a handful of carefully selected and processed pics.

I think it's been about a decade now that space probes have routinely uploaded essentially all their pictures to the web. Now we feel we're being cheated if we don't get daily updates, even when there's little or nothing worth seeing. I'm not saying that's wrong--just marvelling at the change. I have lots of sympathy for planners on the Dawn team who might be taken by surprise.

Of course I'm as eager as anyone to see the new pics--even if they are just slightly-bigger blobs--but I can wait. I've got practice at it.

--Greg

[djellison]

. I have lots of sympathy for planners on the Dawn team who might be taken by surprise.

I can not possibly believe for a single second that the entire project is taken by surprise that the public might want to see the pictures they've paid for in a timely fashion.

MER had been releasing images for 3.5 yrs and Cassini for 3, when Dawn LAUNCHED.

There is no surprise here. Just a lack of images.

[lyford]

But there's really nothing better than numerous, rapid image releases to allow enthusiasts to follow along with the ongoing, unfolding drama of an active space mission that's exploring a whole new unseen world (or, in the case of the rovers, new unseen landscapes and vistas).

This is exactly why I think such images are important - they tell a story, letting us "ride along." Even if there is no discernible difference yet day to day, the ability to check in to see if we can see anything connects us with the mission and provides a narrative with which to engage others.

It's kinda like twitter - each single post or image may not convey much or be earth (or dwarf planet) shaking in itself, but the constant contact reinforces the relationship between us and the mission.

Anyway, I do remember the days of sending away in the mail for black and white prints or hoarding the National Geographics. So it is a sign of how good we have it that we expect daily updates from our space probes.

[tanjent]

Just to play the Devil's advocate:

If you want to maximize the attention Dawn claims from the man or woman on the street,
is it better to ratchet up the image detail step by step, or blast them with a fully detailed
view of the new world all in one shot?

Yes I want to see those approach pictures badly, but for someone who doesn't know that Dawn even
exists, could the approach images have an inoculation effect and actually reduce the overall public
profile of the mission. Are there any advertising executives active on this site who could comment
on this? For example, how would Steve Jobs handle the Dawn photo release?