[extropy-chat] SPACE: where are we?

[Bryan Moss]

Robert J. Bradbury wrote:

> I can't be the only one who feels these are the children,
> agents, avatars, etc. of humanity on a friggen different planet.
> Haven't we got ads on TV asking us "Do you know where your
> children are?" or something to that effect.  Where the heck
> is the JPL in answering that question?

Robert, I think the real problem is that JPL has to tend to those other
children, namely: the press.  If they release information as it arrives,
before the official press conference and Q&A session, they run the risk of
the press grabbing hold of something and running wild with it.  I've already
seen various news sites on the web uncritically report a website claiming
JPL were altering the colours of the images to cover-up signs of life ("NASA
has been accused of altering colours..."; by a website that also featured an
extensive analysis of the "face on Mars" no less).  If they didn't do it
this way, the quality of Mars reporting the majority of people receive would
suffer, as the media reported speculation on raw data and the opinion of
engineers before they'd received official word.

BM