3 ms·
So I downloaded the high def picture and panned around. At first I was rather underwhelmed. "Great, another desert landscape. Good use of a few million tax paye
by virmundi 14y ago
So I downloaded the high def picture and panned around. At first I was rather underwhelmed. "Great, another desert landscape. Good use of a few million tax payer dollars. We could go to Afghanistan and get the same picture for cheaper.", I thought to myself.
Then I just let the whole scene soak in. I imagined talking with a founding father about my life. "Sure, I've seen the surface of Mars. Blue rocks and red dirt. Mountains in the back." This really opened my eyes. This is a high def of another planet. I pulled it up on a computer that could hold all of the written words in the time of the individual with whom I was imagining the conversation. The whole thing is rather impressive and inspiring.
- Sharlin 14y agoThe images are a red herring. Yes, it's an inspiring engineering achievement to land a thing on another planet that can snap pretty tourist photos. But that is not the point. Science is the point. The sophisticated geochemistry instruments are the point.
- virmundi 14y agoI know that's the point, but the science has to be sold to the public. Science for the sake of science would be great, but the reality of the world is that money is in finite supply. As a result you have to sell your dream/goal to get it. I think these pictures, plus a bit better pr campaign by NASA could bring her back to her former glory. Remember, the whole trip to the moon was a giant PR program too. But look at all of the science we got from it.
- pohl 14y ago"...Good use of a few million tax payer dollars. We could go to Afghanistan and get the same picture for cheaper.", I thought to myself. Our daily burn-rate in Afghanistan would buy us a new MSL-sized project every 8 to 10 days. It would probably be cheaper to go to Mars but pull out of Afghanistan a couple weeks early.