On 2004-08-30, John Doe wrote:
ISS crew time is valuable, at least in the sense that the limited number
of available man-hours are oversubscribed. Yet, if you look at the ISS
status reports, every day they list photographic targets, often of
developing situations (hurricanes, wildfires)

Another argument to allow the crew to spend some time is that being stuck in a
tin can for 6 months with limited opportunities to look outside, it is perhaps
part of their daily "requirements" along with exercise food, hygiene and
sleep. If you're going to stick a crew member next to a window for X minutes
per day to maintain his sanity, you might as well have him hold a camera and
do something useful while he enjoys the view.

I kept reminding myself to add that point at the end, and forgot -
thanks :-)

Yeah, it's quite true; as we explained to Bob earlier, providing
crewmembers with entertainment/relaxation is an important part of the
human factors planning attendant on having a crew at all, and this
allows us a method which combines an activity crews tend to enjoy (and
often not consider "work" as such, which is itself valuable) with
something that has undeniable science return.

--
-Andrew Gray