NASA on The West Wing

For those in the U.S., tonight's The West Wing has an interesting side story
where some NASA folks make a presentation to a political lackey and get blown
off. One of these scientists takes this guy outside of DC to a dark site and
sets up an 8" Meade and shows him Jupiter, Mars, and M42. He's blown away and
inspired to support a Mars mission.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

For those in the U.S., tonight's The West Wing has an interesting side
story
where some NASA folks make a presentation to a political lackey and get
blown
off. One of these scientists takes this guy outside of DC to a dark site
and
sets up an 8" Meade and shows him Jupiter, Mars, and M42. He's blown away
and
inspired to support a Mars mission.

Was that a 6" MAK that Josh got as a parting gift? Hmm...accepting gifts
from Space lobbyists? I suppose I'll just be a little hypocritical and
overlook that one :-)

clear skies,
Jack

For those in the U.S., tonight's The West Wing has an interesting side
story
where some NASA folks make a presentation to a political lackey and get
blown
off. One of these scientists takes this guy outside of DC to a dark site
and
sets up an 8" Meade and shows him Jupiter, Mars, and M42. He's blown away
and
inspired to support a Mars mission.

Was that a 6" MAK that Josh got as a parting gift? Hmm...accepting gifts
from Space lobbyists? I suppose I'll just be a little hypocritical and
overlook that one :-)

clear skies,
Jack

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 04:16:15 GMT, "MostlyH2O"
wrote:

Was that a 6" MAK that Josh got as a parting gift? Hmm...accepting gifts
from Space lobbyists? I suppose I'll just be a little hypocritical and
overlook that one :-)

I thought it was a 5" ETX, but I didn't get a close look. Either way, a nice
gift. And she wasn't a lobbyist, but a NASA scientist. What are the rules on one
government employee accepting a gift from another?

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 04:16:15 GMT, "MostlyH2O"
wrote:

Was that a 6" MAK that Josh got as a parting gift? Hmm...accepting gifts
from Space lobbyists? I suppose I'll just be a little hypocritical and
overlook that one :-)

I thought it was a 5" ETX, but I didn't get a close look. Either way, a nice
gift. And she wasn't a lobbyist, but a NASA scientist. What are the rules on one
government employee accepting a gift from another?

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

"MostlyH2O" wrote in message
. com...
For those in the U.S., tonight's The West Wing has an interesting side
story
where some NASA folks make a presentation to a political lackey and get
blown
off. One of these scientists takes this guy outside of DC to a dark site
and
sets up an 8" Meade and shows him Jupiter, Mars, and M42. He's blown
away
and
inspired to support a Mars mission.

Was that a 6" MAK that Josh got as a parting gift? Hmm...accepting gifts
from Space lobbyists? I suppose I'll just be a little hypocritical and
overlook that one :-)

Joking aside.........
Not me, I'm still not a fan of spending money to send humans into space any
farther than is necessary to support orbiting equipment. Not for a long time
to come. Let's spend that money on planetary science probes, space
telescopes, environmental science, and alternative fuel development. There's
still lots that can be, and needs to be done from right here on terra firma.

If we can't figure out how to manage our environment and survive without
oil, we are not worthy to leave planet earth.

"MostlyH2O" wrote in message
. com...
For those in the U.S., tonight's The West Wing has an interesting side
story
where some NASA folks make a presentation to a political lackey and get
blown
off. One of these scientists takes this guy outside of DC to a dark site
and
sets up an 8" Meade and shows him Jupiter, Mars, and M42. He's blown
away
and
inspired to support a Mars mission.

Was that a 6" MAK that Josh got as a parting gift? Hmm...accepting gifts
from Space lobbyists? I suppose I'll just be a little hypocritical and
overlook that one :-)

Joking aside.........
Not me, I'm still not a fan of spending money to send humans into space any
farther than is necessary to support orbiting equipment. Not for a long time
to come. Let's spend that money on planetary science probes, space
telescopes, environmental science, and alternative fuel development. There's
still lots that can be, and needs to be done from right here on terra firma.

If we can't figure out how to manage our environment and survive without
oil, we are not worthy to leave planet earth.

In article ,
says...
For those in the U.S., tonight's The West Wing has an interesting side
story
where some NASA folks make a presentation to a political lackey and get
blown
off. One of these scientists takes this guy outside of DC to a dark site
and
sets up an 8" Meade and shows him Jupiter, Mars, and M42. He's blown away
and
inspired to support a Mars mission.

Was that a 6" MAK that Josh got as a parting gift? Hmm...accepting gifts
from Space lobbyists? I suppose I'll just be a little hypocritical and
overlook that one :-)

clear skies,
Jack




Well, to me it looked like an 8" Schmidt, maybe 10". Story concept was
OK, maybe. Planetary images sucked. But I did like the sound of the
scope slewing. And talk about a bright optical tube.

Anyway, I'll tolerate most anything to get someone behind an eyepiece.

But what I really liked was, scope out of the rig, no alignment, and
then GOTO, GOTO, GOTO, and centered each time. Cool, show how to do
that.

Gift looks like a 125 ETX EC. Little setup time I note,

Sorry for disjointed post, I write this as I watch the show.

Now its it's time to drag out my Fujinons and look at Orion. It's clear,
cool, and a little windy. To late to see if T7 is even a chance.

In article ,
says...
For those in the U.S., tonight's The West Wing has an interesting side
story
where some NASA folks make a presentation to a political lackey and get
blown
off. One of these scientists takes this guy outside of DC to a dark site
and
sets up an 8" Meade and shows him Jupiter, Mars, and M42. He's blown away
and
inspired to support a Mars mission.

Was that a 6" MAK that Josh got as a parting gift? Hmm...accepting gifts
from Space lobbyists? I suppose I'll just be a little hypocritical and
overlook that one :-)

clear skies,
Jack




Well, to me it looked like an 8" Schmidt, maybe 10". Story concept was
OK, maybe. Planetary images sucked. But I did like the sound of the
scope slewing. And talk about a bright optical tube.

Anyway, I'll tolerate most anything to get someone behind an eyepiece.

But what I really liked was, scope out of the rig, no alignment, and
then GOTO, GOTO, GOTO, and centered each time. Cool, show how to do
that.

Gift looks like a 125 ETX EC. Little setup time I note,

Sorry for disjointed post, I write this as I watch the show.

Now its it's time to drag out my Fujinons and look at Orion. It's clear,
cool, and a little windy. To late to see if T7 is even a chance.

Stephen Paul wrote:
Joking aside.........
Not me, I'm still not a fan of spending money to send humans into space any
farther than is necessary to support orbiting equipment. Not for a long time
to come. Let's spend that money on planetary science probes, space
telescopes, environmental science, and alternative fuel development. There's
still lots that can be, and needs to be done from right here on terra firma.

But this is the big mistake. It's not a question of one or the other.
That's a fallacy. If we choose not to spend money on human space
exploration the savings would not go to robotic exploration. It just
doesn't work that way. I have never, ever heard a proponent of manned
space flight claim that robotics exploration should be cut. Why is it
that I can't make the case the other way 'round? It saddens me that I
can't. To all of you who are against manned space flight I have this to
say: we need to support all space efforts, not fight among ourselves.
If you want more robotic space exploration lobby Congress for more
robotic space exploration! Stop being negative. It's hurting all of us.

--
Greg Crinklaw
Astronomical Software Developer
Cloudcroft, New Mexico, USA (33N, 106W, 2700m)

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