- Utah-Astronomy - mailman.xmission.com

Donna Shirley
by Chuck Hards 16 Jan '05

16 Jan '05

Patrick, not to belabor a point, (too late for that in all probability) but it was you who initially (and more than once, I believe) used the title "project manager", in reference to Spear. Project manager is by definition a predominantly managerial, hands-off, delegatory job. If Spear is the new project manager, he is hands-off as well. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! http://my.yahoo.com

1 0

SLAS Website/monthly photo contest
by Chuck Hards 16 Jan '05

16 Jan '05

I just noticed that the SLAS Website isn't responding. Has it moved, or possibly down for maintenance? Rob has a GREAT shot for the monthly photo contest, a sure winner. Whom should he contact to submit it? Thanks in advance! (Rob, watch this space...) __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250

1 0

Re: Donna Shirley
by Chuck Hards 16 Jan '05

16 Jan '05

OK, Patrick, that makes sense. She didn't have a soldering iron in her hand that's for sure. I remember from the book that she was the project manager. Was always telling teams that their assemblies were overweight, behind schedule, didn't work as advertized, that kind of thing. Getting engineers to stick to the schedule and watching the budget. Getting the engineers and scientists to work together was a chore. They tended to think their own part of the project was the most important, and all other aspects should be subject to their whims. It's natural that the nuts-and-bolts folks wouldn't want any "boss" on "their" Website. Shame. They would have failed without her. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Easier than ever with enhanced search. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250

1 0

Aurora warning
by Patrick Wiggins 16 Jan '05

16 Jan '05

This was sent out by Sky & Telescope: +++++ Yesterday's major class M8.6 solar flare is expected to impact the Earth during the mid to late UTC hours of 16 January (within the next 24 hours) and has the potential to produce moderate to strong levels of auroral activity across the middle and perhaps even the lower latitude regions late on 16 and into 17 January (UTC time). For North American observers, the best opportunity to observe activity will probably be during the evening hours on 16 January (Sunday night). +++++ Patrick

2 1

Re: Donna Shirley
by Chuck Hards 16 Jan '05

16 Jan '05

Patrick, here is the text from Shirley's Website: Donna Shirley was the manager of the Mars Exploration Program and the original leader of the team that built the Sojourner Rover. Donna, who retired from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in August 1998, has written a new autobiography, published by Broadway Books in June 1998, called "Managing Martians: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman's Lifelong Quest to Get to Mars -- and of the Team Behind the Space Robot That Has Captured the Imagination of the World". It's the story of her life from her childhood in Wynnewood, Oklahoma to managing the Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It chronicles the struggles and triumphs of the Pathfinder and Sojourner Rover teams which carried out the Mars landing on July 4, 1997, and tells of the ongoing saga of the Mars Global Surveyor currently orbiting and imaging the red planet. The story of the journey of a girl from a small town who becomes first a pilot, then an engineer, then a member and finally a leader of teams exploring the solar system will keep you turning pages. I'm pretty sure she had the project at least through engineering/construction/testing/assembly/phases. I recall she did have issues with top management, I wonder if JPL and/or NASA have purposely kept her off the Web pages? Ooo, sour grapes! Tony Spear taking over "partway through the mission"? It looks to me like he was handed the whole thing after most of the work was already done. No mention of Shirley on the Website is not a very ethical (or truthful) position. A sin of ommission, at least. Credit should be given where it is due. Dig deeper, Patrick, I know you'd really hesitate to question what NASA tells you, but perhaps this is a good time...If Spear does speak at a meeting, I will definitely ask him publicly "what gives?" C. > That's odd. JPL's Pathfinder site lists Tony Spear > at the Project > Manager ( > http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/bios/team/spear1.html > ). > > Could not find Shirley anywhere on the site so maybe > Spear took over > from her part way through the mission. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! http://my.yahoo.com

2 1

Re: [Utah-astronomy] U of A site/Huygens images
by Chuck Hards 16 Jan '05

16 Jan '05

Good idea, Joe, I hope someone tries it and posts the results. Some of the images also make ersatz stereo pairs. When I free-fuse some of them the resolution does improve slightly. Note there are quite a few pages with not much recognizable in the images, but once you wade through those, you'll encounter more excellent images from the descent phase, just keep clicking through the pages. I think all the recovered images are there. It does look a lot like an "ocean", doesn't it? If you can call liquid methane or ethane an "ocean". 300-degrees below zero! Brrr! Joe Bauman wrote: > Man, this is grand. And I think if several > images of the > same site can be stacked it could improve the > resolution. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250

2 1

Re: Joes UFO
by Chuck Hards 16 Jan '05

16 Jan '05

Joe, your description is exactly right. No ET's there. Thanks! __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! http://my.yahoo.com

1 0

Donna Shirley
by Chuck Hards 16 Jan '05

16 Jan '05

Here is Ms. Shirley's Website. She is now a professional speaker and management consultant. http://www.managingcreativity.com/ Looks like Mr. Spears might have been under Ms. Shirley at JPL, or could have been her replacement. I read her book, "Managing Martians", and can recommend it as a pretty good read for anyone in a management position, especially if you oversee talented people or those with a, shall we say, very high opinion of themselves and their work. Unfortunately my copy was loaned to the former HR manager where I work, and she took it with her into retirement...haven't seen her or the book in years! __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The all-new My Yahoo! - What will yours do? http://my.yahoo.com

3 3

Re: Robert Burnham Jr. (Rob Ratkowski)
by Canopus56 16 Jan '05

16 Jan '05

Sorry guys, looks like I missed the top post in this thread. My post was duplicative of the root of the thread. - Canopus56 __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Read only the mail you want - Yahoo! Mail SpamGuard. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail

1 0

Re: Robert Burnham Jr. (Rob Ratkowski)
by Canopus56 16 Jan '05

16 Jan '05

This 1997 article from the Phoenix Times gives a good overview of Burnham's life and demise - http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/issues/1997-09-25/feature.html I keep a copy of this article in the back of Volume III of my copy of the _Celestial Handbook_. I recommend you grab a copy before it disappears off the net someday. I heard a net rumour that Lowell Observatory staff and Huachuca Astronomy Club member Brian Skiff has been working on an updated, revised edition of the _Handbook_ for sometime. - Canopus56 (Kurt) P.S. - I bought my copy of the Handbook about 5 months ago at Sam Wellers. Amazingly, they had a _new_ copy of the entire three volume set in hardback for about $30. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Meet the all-new My Yahoo! - Try it today! http://my.yahoo.com

1 0