Uni, We're on our way to Pluto

jocose · Jan 19, 2006

With still more delays, New Horizons went smoothly on it's 10 year mission to Pluto at 2:00 pm EST!!!!

!!!!!!!!!PLUTO OR BUST!!!!!!!

JonMikal · Jan 19, 2006

how come ya'lls stuff doesn't make the big news anymore? remember Jules Bergman?

jocose · Jan 19, 2006

JonMikal said:
how come ya'lls stuff doesn't make the big news anymore? remember Jules Bergman?

That's all part of NASA's problem. We desparately need a spindoctor!! Everything we do should be making headlines, but we treat everything as if it were run of the mill crap that we're doing instead of really cool, dangerous, cutting edge stuff...

clarinetJWD · Jan 19, 2006

jocose said:
That's all part of NASA's problem. We desparately need a spindoctor!! Everything we do should be making headlines, but we treat everything as if it were run of the mill crap that we're doing instead of really cool, dangerous, cutting edge stuff...

No kidding!
I mean, you guys invented the material my bed is made out of!

jocose · Jan 19, 2006

and the other problem is that while New Horizons is plugging away for the next 9+ years, we will allow the country to foget all about it. Then come the day we've been waiting for, no one will remember or care.

JonMikal · Jan 19, 2006

clarinetJWD said:
No kidding!
I mean, you guys invented the material my bed is made out of!

left over space food?

terri · Jan 19, 2006

JonMikal said:
left over space food?

:lmao:

Jocose, I for one think it's hella-cool - and I try to keep up with all the cool missions, there's just very little out there and if you're not looking for it, you won't know about it.

But this one IS terribly exciting. :cheer:

jocose · Jan 19, 2006

terri said:
:lmao:

Jocose, I for one think it's hella-cool - and I try to keep up with all the cool missions, there's just very little out there and if you're not looking for it, you won't know about it.

But this one IS terribly exciting. :cheer:

before Columbia blew up, we were doing things a whole lot...the next shuttle mission will be the 121st shuttle mission. We launch a lot of probes and satellites. Sadly, we've been f'ing things up a lot lately...so maybe it's good we're not in the news too much these days.

JonMikal · Jan 19, 2006

jocose said:
before Columbia blew up, we were doing things a whole lot...the next shuttle mission will be the 121st shuttle mission. We launch a lot of probes and satellites. Sadly, we've been f'ing things up a lot lately...so maybe it's good we're not in the news too much these days.

my thoughts exactly (not picking at ya this time

)

terri · Jan 19, 2006

I appreciate that, but when something positive IS happening, all the more reason to get the word out there. Nothing can (or should) erase past tragedies; but NASA has been living with those for a very long time. It comes with the territory. But so do successful missions; this needs to be remembered, too.

jocose · Jan 19, 2006

terri said:
I appreciate that, but when something positive IS happening, all the more reason to get the word out there. Nothing can (or should) erase past tragedies; but NASA has been living with those for a very long time. It comes with the territory. But so do successful missions; this needs to be remembered, too.

Terri, you hit the nail on the head. that is exactly our problem...we don't promote our successes enough, and we did our best in the 80s and 90s to convince everyone that this was all normal stuff. We succeeded in convincing America that this sh*t isn't dangerous, which was our biggest mistake. We should have been telling people from the start that what we do is incredibly dangerous and that there is a very real possibility of loss of life every time we shoot people into space. That would have helped people accept Challenger and Columbia more. Think about it, we all mourn the loss of our soldiers who die every day in Iraq, but we know that it's inevitable because they are soldiers...sadly, that's what they do they kill or they die...we all mourn, but it's not the same way we mourn the loss of someone killed in a car accident or a bombing. We all know what the possibility is when we sign on to be in the military. This is true for astronauts as well. But we (NASA) have never properly prepared the American people for loss of life, even though it's happened 3 times now.

So, in the 80s and 90s we only really made headlines when something went wrong. The problem is that NASA is in the business of pushing the envelope. A good example is the Return to Flight mission over the summer. Everyone made a big deal how we f'ed up again because there was still that big chunk of foam that came off. Well, let's be realistic, the stress and pressure that is put on the tanks and shuttle are insane, and there isn't really a way to simulate, so as any scientist will tell you, the only way to test it is to do it. That's what we did. We didn't "fail" because the foam still came off, we just learned that we still need to do more...any scientist will tell you that getting unexpected results from an experiment isn't failure, it's just learning something you weren't expecting.

This is all part of the reason I want out of the farkackted agency!

JonMikal · Jan 19, 2006

IMO, NASA will not rekindle the excitement the public once felt until it goes back to the moon or offers rides to the public on missions....there's your news.

terri · Jan 19, 2006

We succeeded in convincing America that this sh*t isn't dangerous, which was our biggest mistake. We should have been telling people from the start that what we do is incredibly dangerous and that there is a very real possibility of loss of life every time we shoot people into space. That would have helped people accept Challenger and Columbia more.

Absolutely! You're so on target. I don't understand the haste with which people will toss out any aspect of danger - isn't that what makes our successes all the more precious? Beating the odds, cheating death, triumphing over what should be impossible?

It reminds me of the misguided way that trips to Mt. Everest were being promoted some years back. Like it was suddenly a cakewalk to get 5 miles up in the stratosphere, simply because it had been done so many times. Then (I forget offhand when it was) that one group rushed things a bit - not wanting to disappoint paying customers - when a storm was approaching, and how many people died on that mountain? Including one of the team leaders? (It led to the publication of "Into Thin Air".)

Just the same mentality - different circumstances. No one cares until something goes wrong, then everyone points to a seemingly cavalier attitude on the part of the mission planners. Is it there? Really?

nvr2low · Jan 19, 2006

i work for a defense contractor and we make alot of hi-tech radar systems for the military. we dont get public credit at all, even though we are sending 1000's of systems to iraq and each one protects 40 soldiers. i think it would be nice if people new about it, but at the same time its nice to just sit back and know your doing something like that. i guess we are supposed to be starting a system for NASA soon for navagation purposes on other planets. maybe once they can navagte the planets better they will make it more public.