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suddenly fashionable
May. 19th, 2004 01:01 amI'm just back home from another trip... briefing the Astrobiology Program lead and the Mars Exploration Program's chief scientist (and his predecessor) in Space Science, and the two guys responsible for mid- and far-term technology development in the new Office of Exploration.
One might easily shrug at this... another presentation to NASA bureaucrats, right? But for me and my colleagues who have worked at Mars-analog sites over the past decade for doing both field science and technology evaluation and testing, this is an out-of-the-wilderness experience. A year ago, I couldn't even talk about sending humans to the Moon or to Mars, and hence found it hard to justify spending time and money studying human-robotic interactions, EVA expeditionary dynamics and crew sizing, or testing new instruments in a realistic environment. JSC participants weren't even allowed by their management to send people to Devon Island in the summers of 2001-02.
So, going with Pascal to brief the Agency's chief scientist, space architect, and the two technical planning leads from Exploration and Space Science (over the past 2 weeks) has been a bit surreal. After years of being laughed at... privately wondering myself, years ago, if this work would really make a difference or if we were just guys in tents with notions of grandeur ;-)... now we're suddenly fashionable at the highest levels. Sean O'Keefe knows (and apparently favors) our Haughton Crater work. Personally, I've gotten laughed-at by colleagues over the past 6 years -- after all, humans weren't leaving low Earth orbit, so what use was testing robots or spacesuit prototypes in a frozen impact crater? Now... it is seen as a necessary step for future exploration. JSC is now planning to send astronauts to Devon this summer. And our past work is deemed "outstanding" and "entrepreneurial"...
[Leaving NASA HQS yesterday, after another question-filled briefing that ran twice its scheduled length, I started my rental car and the CD shuffle played... "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from the RHPS soundtrack. (wink) ]
One might easily shrug at this... another presentation to NASA bureaucrats, right? But for me and my colleagues who have worked at Mars-analog sites over the past decade for doing both field science and technology evaluation and testing, this is an out-of-the-wilderness experience. A year ago, I couldn't even talk about sending humans to the Moon or to Mars, and hence found it hard to justify spending time and money studying human-robotic interactions, EVA expeditionary dynamics and crew sizing, or testing new instruments in a realistic environment. JSC participants weren't even allowed by their management to send people to Devon Island in the summers of 2001-02.
So, going with Pascal to brief the Agency's chief scientist, space architect, and the two technical planning leads from Exploration and Space Science (over the past 2 weeks) has been a bit surreal. After years of being laughed at... privately wondering myself, years ago, if this work would really make a difference or if we were just guys in tents with notions of grandeur ;-)... now we're suddenly fashionable at the highest levels. Sean O'Keefe knows (and apparently favors) our Haughton Crater work. Personally, I've gotten laughed-at by colleagues over the past 6 years -- after all, humans weren't leaving low Earth orbit, so what use was testing robots or spacesuit prototypes in a frozen impact crater? Now... it is seen as a necessary step for future exploration. JSC is now planning to send astronauts to Devon this summer. And our past work is deemed "outstanding" and "entrepreneurial"...
[Leaving NASA HQS yesterday, after another question-filled briefing that ran twice its scheduled length, I started my rental car and the CD shuffle played... "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from the RHPS soundtrack. (wink) ]
