[X] My Assistant

[Drkskywxlt]

Thought it would be interesting to get a sense of how MSL is being covered in the popular media, particularly since the board's residents cover so many different cities and countries!

CNN covered the landing live, which I was pleased to see. NBC has also had some semi-regular coverage on the evening news for the last few days. The NBC Today Show this morning mentioned the rear hazcam anomaly and how the crazies on the internet are abuzz over it (also mentioned the likely true cause/s of the "blob").

[djellison]

Just a few examples....
There were only two FHAZ's
The descent stage prop tanks had gold insulation, not silver.
There were only 4 EMB's not 6
There was no RTG thermal cover
Glass window over the MastCAMs (when there isn't one)
No glass cover over the ChemCam (when there is one)
Cruise stage was just enlarged MER with 4 solar arrays segments, not 6.
Parachute colors pattern is 3/4's missing
Powered Descent Vehicle dances left and right. It's actually a rock steady divert maneuver.
Descent stage flyaway is to the right (it could only fly away foreword or backward)
Descent stage flyaway is straight towards the science goals ( intentionally - it would go which ever way, fwd/bwd, was most away from science)
Entry animations had it being about 6am local time, not 2pm.


BUT - like I said - that doesn't matter. They painted an accurate picture and told a real story. Discovery just told the story they wanted to, regardless of how much that did or didn't have to do with the actual mission.

D

[dvandorn]

Discovery just told the story they wanted to, regardless of how much that did or didn't have to do with the actual mission.

By the Discovery piece, I'm assuming you mean the special that ran on Science the evening of 8/6 and was re-run several times during the week?

Yeah -- that piece didn't appear to be structured in any useful way. It reminded me of a local TV station's news truck going out to JPL and grabbing interviews with whoever wanders by for their views on the landing. There was nothing there you didn't get by watching the landing coverage and the post-landing presser. And the smiling hosts reminded me of the educational programming they run on NASA TV aimed at eight-year-olds with a second grade reading level. Useful for grade schools, maybe, but well under par for their normal space programming.

-the other Doug