Duck n Cover

Calm down RH! Many of us share your frustration with the often glacial progress of the planetary sciences but please restrain your flamethrower a little bit. Tom V has already explained elsewhere on this messageboard why there is often large time lags between receiving and dispensing data. He is affected far more directly by this then you are and is not ranting about the evil NASA conspiracy. There seems to be this constant diatribe about how NASA officials are scheming and plotting and up to all sorts of nefarious things. I am the last one to claim they are all perfect human beings and do everything aboveboard, but remember one salient fact, they are a government agency and when have you ever seen an efficient government agency? They are about getting funding and that means being perceived to be important, that is why they have taken the unofficial role of giving the "official" explanation on everything that they show.

I constantly hear these criticisms of how NASA actively suppresses and hides things. If they have such horrible motives why would they release this information that you regard as so important? If they are really conspirers wouldn't they hold this aside as long as they could so as not to be embarassed at having the scientific paradigm upset? You are making them plotters if they do or don't release information. As for the import of not having their press conference I think you are attaching far too great a significance to it. If you don't have explanations for something would you be eager to sit in front of a room of reporters and say "duh...I really don't know what this means"? Scientists are the most obstinate people for not saying "I don't know", it sticks in their throats, they are compulsive explainers. Their behavior isn't unusual for scientists at all, most of them are like that.

Scientists in general are always behind the curve when new ideas are conceived, it often takes time lags of a hundred years or more to see change. Rail all you want, no one is going to declare Cydonia to be artificial until we have a picture that is close enough to discern lines between stone blocks or something that is more ironclad than a personal opinion. I really get tired of people that take images that are just on the verge of being recognizable, claiming that they are a "city" or "pyramid" and crying foul when other people disagree with their judgement.

I know its frustrating that it is taking us so long to get somewhere on these issues. We are stuck with time delays of years waiting for probes to get to their destinations and crossing our fingers in hope that they'll work when they get there. And if they work are the probes going to look at anything that we really wanted to get a good look at? Unless someone solves antigravity or builds atomic rocket engines progress is going to be very slow I'm afraid.

I agree with Bob, if not always with his political analogies. But it disturbs me too. The Mars exploration is far too important to be kept secret from the American public. I can't imagine how its findings could possibly be classified for security reasons, (that would be the only legitimate reason for withholding imformation).

This seems to be a clear case of the principal investigators and the agencies proteecting their turf from all comers, and using our dollar to do it. I want to know all about what they find, and not twenty years from now. It is frustrating. Neil

All I ask is that they live up to their word. It REALLY IS that simple.

They promised prior notification and immediate release of Cydonia images. period.

Hence Cydonia becomes an EXCLUSION to the 6 month proprietary rule. period.

On May 9, 2002 Dr. Gibbs let 'slip' that they had ALREADY acquired nighttime infrared and daytime true color images of Cydonia. As to the this 'withholding' of data affecting Dr. flandern, or even others MORE than me then I beg to differ GREATLY right here in the open.

I DO HAVE a working hypothesis concerning a feature in downtown Cydonia for which I applied to NASA to study as Principle Investigator for. So even though NASA denied our team's request, we ARE on RECORD as calling attention to this feature as being active geologically AND potentially artificial and currently showing habitation activity. The nighttime infrared and true color images from Odyssey are more pieces of evidence which could actually conclusively PROVE either hypothesis.

I WANT TO SEE THOSE IMAGES NOW!!!

Again, from their promises, Cydonia is supposed to be EXCLUDED from the 6 month rule, much less hold on to the data for THIRTEEN MONTHS!!!

So you see, there IS reason to rant n rave and pester the media and anybody else I can until this data, ALREADY acquired, is released. Even if I have to rant n rave for another THIRTEEN months when their LEGAL 'contract' period is only 6. So should I chalk it up to laziness, disrespect, or conspiracy? Anyway you look at it, they've lied and their actions do not match their word and promises. I wish to hold them accountable for such.

I suspect the evasiveness of NASA under this administration has something to do with fundamentalist christian politics. Acknowledging the possibility of life on Mars would disrupt the creationists' (Ashcroft et al) geocentric and human-centric worldview. It would also explain the initial release of information (by the scientists) followed by evasiveness (ordered by the administration).

ftbc,
this is possible, but this has been going on even in the Clinton years at JPL and this 'Principle Investigator' pap. Since when is giving a private individual exclusive rights to public data BEFORE it is acquired a GOOD thing for our CIVILIAN space agency to do?

So while I think that the 'Brookings Mentality' ie Christian thinking that the unholy world will go bananas altering our anthropocentric view of ourselves is at work in some high levels of control of over government's space program, I do NOT think they are right. 9-11 was a wake up call that ALL our government bureaucrats are not infallible defenders of truth justice and the American way! They can make some pretty horondous blunders. The Brookings Mentality is another one of those same blunders that may actually cause the human race to become extinct if we don't get our act together and get some of us permanately OFF this rock for good! THAT can only come through truth about our reality, and the 'keylog' imho to breaking through that brookings barrier is laying there crying into the indifferent stars of Cydonia.