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Forum:	Free Space
Topic:	will.i.am's "Reach for the Stars" (Mars Edition)

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Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend	[QUOTE]Originally posted by mikej: [B]Remember the drama of Curiosity's software update? [list][][URL=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2408362,00.asp]Mars 'Curiosity' Rover Begins Four-Day Software Upgrade[/URL] <BLOCKQUOTE>[i]"You have to imagine that if something goes wrong with this, it could be the last time you hear from the rover," said senior flight software engineer Steve Scandore in an interview with Computerworld. "It has to work. You don't want to be known as the guy doing the last activity on the rover before you lose contact."[/i]</BLOCKQUOTE> [][URL=http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/08/nasa-patch]NASA Pulls Off 160-Million-Mile Software Patch[/URL] <BLOCKQUOTE>[i]Cichy explains that it took so long because every interaction takes about 30 minutes: 14 minutes to send a signal to the rover in space, 14 minutes to get a response. That means even though it only took a few minutes for the software to actually install, each step of the process of making it happen was painfully slow.[/i]</BLOCKQUOTE>[/list] Kinda seems silly now that we know that half of all that was just uploading MP3s ...[/B][/QUOTE]
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<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="600"><TR><td bgcolor="#000000"><TABLE BORDER=0 cellpadding=4 border=0 cellspacing=1 WIDTH="100%"><TR bgcolor="#660000"><TD COLSPAN=2><CENTER><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#ffffff" FACE="arial, helvetica">T O P I C     R E V I E W</font></CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="arial, helvetica">Robert Pearlman</FONT></TD><TD><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="arial, helvetica">collectSPACE <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="+0"><A HREF="http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-082812a.html">Signals from Mars: NASA's Curiosity rover radios will.i.am song in music first</a></font><P><I>In a first for music and space history, a song has been broadcast back to Earth from the surface of another planet. On Tuesday, students gathered at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to hear "Reach for the Stars" by musician will.i.am after it was transmitted by the Curiosity rover on Mars. <P>A well-known advocate of science education, will.i.am told collectSPACE he hoped the song would encourage and remind them just how important their involvement in the sciences is to the future.</I></BLOCKQUOTE> <center><iframe width="400" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6WZGxg0oPKc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Wehaveliftoff

I have a CD containing many sounds of the planetary journey to Mars and other planetary sounds released many years ago from the Voyager missions. I'll post the title and numbers when I find it.

jimsz

Yet another ridiculous PR stunt by NASA.

Is it any wonder people question the purpose of NASA?

Robert Pearlman

You know what was also criticized as a PR stunt? Hitting a golf ball off the moon.

NASA achieved a technological and engineering marvel landing Curiosity on Mars, a mobile lab that has the potential to make just as impressive science discoveries.

That it can also be used to extend our culture into the solar system and engage an underrepresented audience on Earth (i.e. students who normally couldn't relate to a rover on Mars), then that seems hardly a reason to complain.

Curiosity and Apollo 14 are great missions; a song and some "little white pellets" does nothing to detract from that.

jimsz

quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
You know what was also criticized as a PR stunt? Hitting a golf ball off the moon.

The golf ball was a decision made by one man independent of the agency. It was a cheesy stunt but made by one guy, kind of enjoyable. Made by an agency it would have been ridiculous.

quote:
That it can also be used to extend our culture into the solar system and engage an underrepresented audience on Earth (i.e. students who normally couldn't relate to a rover on Mars), then that seems hardly a reason to complain.

For the children? Seriously?

A bad PR stunt that cheapens the accomplishment.

dogcrew5369

A ludicrous idea and on top of that I heard the song stinks and it should have stayed on Mars.

Robert Pearlman

Were this just a celebrity trying to attach himself to a NASA mission, I could perhaps understand the derision, but will.i.am's record of supporting STEM (and STEAM, the "A" being for Arts) education is well-established.

As just one example, when Dean Kamen's FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics program couldn't get network support for a television broadcast, will.i.am purchased the airtime on ABC and enlisted his friends in music and entertainment to bring attention to a program solely aimed at getting kids to take up science.

I think its a bit shortsighted to criticize that effort because you don't like his style of music or because you weren't personally entertained.

Aztecdoug

I would have gone with David Bowie's Life On Mars. I have no idea what he was singing about, but the title is about right for the mission.

mikej

Remember the drama of Curiosity's software update?

Mars 'Curiosity' Rover Begins Four-Day Software Upgrade
"You have to imagine that if something goes wrong with this, it could be the last time you hear from the rover," said senior flight software engineer Steve Scandore in an interview with Computerworld. "It has to work. You don't want to be known as the guy doing the last activity on the rover before you lose contact."
NASA Pulls Off 160-Million-Mile Software Patch
Cichy explains that it took so long because every interaction takes about 30 minutes: 14 minutes to send a signal to the rover in space, 14 minutes to get a response. That means even though it only took a few minutes for the software to actually install, each step of the process of making it happen was painfully slow.

Kinda seems silly now that we know that half of all that was just uploading MP3s ...

Seriously? Music on another planet and people are complaining? Get a grip, dudes.

star61

The first voice from Mars should have been... "No one would have believed..." — Richard Burton... da da dah...

englau

It is ridiculous that people are complaining about a song being played from it, especially if it caused no physical harm to any equipment. I just think its wonderful that NASA is getting good press these days and that they are trying to engage my generation. It seems that a lot of kids and adults alike think NASA had been shut down and this Curiosity publicity is changing that. Anything NASA can do to prolong and generate interest is worth it's weight in gold.

spaceman

I think the BBC have had a Curiosity related news item everyday since the landing and days before the landing event too. They also included the Will.i.am piece.

We've never had coverage like it so something is working... including the martian based marvel 'Curiosity'.

Appreciate and enjoy.

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