Notes#016

Twitted by GRAVANA:
"Camera aboard a NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars will soon be taking photo suggestions from the public http://ow.ly/YU4x"

It reminds me of an overheard comment on how fashionable participation is nowadays, from televote to educational services in museums ... to NASA. With no sarcasm I say, when not mandatory there is something really powerfull about participation ...

"Since arriving at Mars in 2006, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has recorded nearly 13,000 observations of the Red Planet's terrain. Each image covers dozens of square miles and reveals details as small as a desk. Now, anyone can nominate sites for pictures.
...
The idea to take suggestions from the public follows through on the original concept of the HiRISE instrument, when its planners nicknamed it "the people's camera." The team anticipates that more people will become interested in exploring the Red Planet, while their suggestions for imaging targets will increase the camera's already bountiful science return. Despite the thousands of pictures already taken, less than 1 percent of the Martian surface has been imaged." see the rest of the article here http://ow.ly/YU4x

Participants will not be just anyone, for the suggestions are sellected 'based on science rationale', it is, therefore, targeted to science students and professionals. I have created my account but since I could not provide any further rationale then curiosity I won't be able to suggest any target for NASA's camera nor receive my own picture of Mars terrain, oh well, "public" is only universal in theory anyway!