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Everyone Gets To Be Major Tom

September 11, 2011 - 22:08 — jenmwang


NASA’s contribution to the availability of scientific data through an interactive website called “Eyes on the Solar System” is illuminated in this article from "The Register". The site features mission data from 1950 and projected through 2050 which allows users to travel through space in real time, experiencing various points of view, including a view from within a spacecraft. It not only allows users to experience what only a select few astronauts and robots have had the privilege to know, but gives insight into just how complex the operations are in conducting a mission into space.

The collection of data converges on the topics of resource-based interactions in which human experiences are enriched through digitization as through the Google Art Project, the open data movement as described by Miriam Boon, and the availability of primary scientific data to a variety of users beyond the scientific community. Although the article does not go in-depth as to the level of access users will have, the data also comes with a guide as to how to manage the controls used in the interface. Will users simply be going along for a ride through the cosmos or does this give the armchair astronomer the chance to uncover new insights as in the case of Galaxy Zoo?

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