Choose Hubble's Next Discovery
It's not often I receive an email I feel inclined to make public, but this one certainly fits the bill.
Jan. 28, 2009
J.D. Harrington
NASA Headquarters, Washington
Donna Weaver
Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
NASA INVITES PUBLIC TO CHOOSE HUBBLE'S NEXT DISCOVERY
WASHINGTON -- NASA is giving everyone the opportunity to use the world's most celebrated telescope to explore the heavens and boldly look where the Hubble Space Telescope has never looked before.
NASA is inviting the public to vote for one of six candidate astronomical objects for Hubble to observe in honor of the International Year of Astronomy. The options, which Hubble has not previously photographed, range from far-flung galaxies to dying stars. Votes can be cast until March 1. Hubble's camera will make a high resolution image revealing new details about the object that receives the most votes. The image will be released during the International Year of Astronomy's "100 Hours of Astronomy" from April 2 to 5.
Space enthusiasts can cast their vote at:
http://YouDecide.Hubblesite.org
Everyone who votes also will be entered into a random drawing to receive one of 100 copies of the Hubble photograph made of the winning celestial body.
NASA also invites teachers and students to participate in an accompanying Hubble Space Telescope classroom collage activity that integrates art, science and language arts. Students in participating classes will select their favorite Hubble images and assemble them in a collage. Students in each class also will choose their favorite object from the image voting contest and write essays about why they made their selections.
The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, was designed so that it can be repaired in space by astronauts. The next servicing mission to the telescope is targeted to launch on space shuttle Atlantis May 12, 2009. Mission objectives include extending Hubble's operational life by five years, repairing its out-of-commission instruments and enhancing its scientific power. To do so, astronauts will replace gyroscopes and batteries on the telescope, repair the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Advanced Camera for Surveys and install two new instruments -- the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph.
For more information about the servicing mission, visit:
http://hubble.nasa.gov/missions/sm4.php
For more information about the Hubble Space Telescope, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble
Of course, I'd hope people will refrain from voting just for the sake of doing so, but sadly that's unlikely to happen. People want to be winners, and I'm fairly sure people would vote just for the chance of being "on the winning team" but with the added incentive of being entered into a draw for a real prize means NASA will probably be inundated with people clicking completely randomly. Indeed, on first visiting the site you'll see that unless you click on the "show image descriptions" you're invited to vote without even being told what you're voting for actually is. I can't say this is most impressive form of public interaction NASA has taken part in. If you'd like to participate in the voting, and I suggest you do, please watch the video of Dr Summers before voting.
Jan. 28, 2009
J.D. Harrington
NASA Headquarters, Washington
Donna Weaver
Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
NASA INVITES PUBLIC TO CHOOSE HUBBLE'S NEXT DISCOVERY
WASHINGTON -- NASA is giving everyone the opportunity to use the world's most celebrated telescope to explore the heavens and boldly look where the Hubble Space Telescope has never looked before.
NASA is inviting the public to vote for one of six candidate astronomical objects for Hubble to observe in honor of the International Year of Astronomy. The options, which Hubble has not previously photographed, range from far-flung galaxies to dying stars. Votes can be cast until March 1. Hubble's camera will make a high resolution image revealing new details about the object that receives the most votes. The image will be released during the International Year of Astronomy's "100 Hours of Astronomy" from April 2 to 5.
Space enthusiasts can cast their vote at:
http://YouDecide.Hubblesite.org
Everyone who votes also will be entered into a random drawing to receive one of 100 copies of the Hubble photograph made of the winning celestial body.
NASA also invites teachers and students to participate in an accompanying Hubble Space Telescope classroom collage activity that integrates art, science and language arts. Students in participating classes will select their favorite Hubble images and assemble them in a collage. Students in each class also will choose their favorite object from the image voting contest and write essays about why they made their selections.
The Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, was designed so that it can be repaired in space by astronauts. The next servicing mission to the telescope is targeted to launch on space shuttle Atlantis May 12, 2009. Mission objectives include extending Hubble's operational life by five years, repairing its out-of-commission instruments and enhancing its scientific power. To do so, astronauts will replace gyroscopes and batteries on the telescope, repair the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Advanced Camera for Surveys and install two new instruments -- the Wide Field Camera 3 and the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph.
For more information about the servicing mission, visit:
http://hubble.nasa.gov/missions/sm4.php
For more information about the Hubble Space Telescope, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/hubble
Of course, I'd hope people will refrain from voting just for the sake of doing so, but sadly that's unlikely to happen. People want to be winners, and I'm fairly sure people would vote just for the chance of being "on the winning team" but with the added incentive of being entered into a draw for a real prize means NASA will probably be inundated with people clicking completely randomly. Indeed, on first visiting the site you'll see that unless you click on the "show image descriptions" you're invited to vote without even being told what you're voting for actually is. I can't say this is most impressive form of public interaction NASA has taken part in. If you'd like to participate in the voting, and I suggest you do, please watch the video of Dr Summers before voting.