Strange Idea

This was the final paragraph of yesterday's (Jan 9) JPL press release for
the Mars Rover, as posted on their web ste. Does anybody else find a
little preposterous this request that kids all over America send their
backyard rocks to ASU?

It seems to me that geologists should know enough geology that this isn't
necessary, as well as that ASU will receive huge piles of rock that they'll
have to dispose of somehow. As well as shipping costs and heavy labor
required to transport them. This seems like a heckuva waste.

"Christensen announced an educational project to involve school children
and other people in getting rocks from all over Earth for comparison. "Send
me your rocks and we'll see if there are rocks in your back yard that are
similar to what we're seeing on Mars," he said. Information about how to
send rocks to Arizona State University is on the rovers' Web site at
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov."

In article ,
John Schutkeker wrote:
...Does anybody else find a
little preposterous this request that kids all over America send their
backyard rocks to ASU?
It seems to me that geologists should know enough geology that this isn't
necessary...

Note that it is an *educational* project. It's being done for the kids'
benefit, not the geologists' benefit.
--
MOST launched 30 June; science observations running | Henry Spencer
since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending. |

John Schutkeker wrote:

: This was the final paragraph of yesterday's (Jan 9) JPL press release for
: the Mars Rover, as posted on their web ste. Does anybody else find a
: little preposterous this request that kids all over America send their
: backyard rocks to ASU?

: It seems to me that geologists should know enough geology that this isn't
: necessary, as well as that ASU will receive huge piles of rock that they'll
: have to dispose of somehow. As well as shipping costs and heavy labor
: required to transport them. This seems like a heckuva waste.

I attended ASU, and the last thing they need is more rocks. ;-)
Actually, this sounds more like a PR/contest kind of thing than seriouis
geological research. I imagine the relatively few kids who send in rocks
will get some kind of educational/promo literature on Mars rocks and maybe
even a 'scientific' classification of the type of rock they sent in -- provided
by grad students getting a lesson in quick summary appraisals.
I seem to recall, from elementary school days, there was once a
similar science 'project' involving fossils. Students hunted fossils (found
from suitable stones, usually from leftover building materials) and the
teacher sent them in. Of course, the fossils found were all of minor ocean
critters/shells, but the class got back a letter from wherever that basically
said "XXX class of species, YYY era" and the class went from there. Sort of
an introduction to the field.

regards,
------------------------------------------------------

On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 16:40:43 GMT, John Schutkeker
wrote:


This was the final paragraph of yesterday's (Jan 9) JPL press release for
the Mars Rover, as posted on their web ste. Does anybody else find a
little preposterous this request that kids all over America send their
backyard rocks to ASU?

It seems to me that geologists should know enough geology that this isn't
necessary, as well as that ASU will receive huge piles of rock that they'll
have to dispose of somehow. As well as shipping costs and heavy labor
required to transport them. This seems like a heckuva waste.

"Christensen announced an educational project to involve school children
and other people in getting rocks from all over Earth for comparison. "Send
me your rocks and we'll see if there are rocks in your back yard that are
similar to what we're seeing on Mars," he said. Information about how to
send rocks to Arizona State University is on the rovers' Web site at
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov."

Yes, this seems very ill-advised. I guess Mr. Christensen was carried
away by the excitement of the moment.