Sharing the Adventure with the Public The Value and Excitement of 'Grand Questions' of Space Science and Exploration: Summary of a Workshop (2011) / Chapter Skim
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Session 1: Answering Grand Questions
Session 1: Answering Grand Questions
Pages 11-16
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From page 11... ...
INTRODUCTION Kennel opened the session by saying that he and Bonnet had agreed that he would begin by saying for both of them that "the science community is in a period of introspection" with regard to how it communicates with the public and decision-makers, and it comes down to "trust and accountability." He said this stems from scientists in his own field of climate science who thought they had established an effective mechanism to earn trust and accountability through decades of research and to communicate the results of that research to the public and decision-makers. They established "the world's most elaborate review process," the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
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From page 12... ...
But for all of these discoveries, Bonnet commented, the space science community has netted only two Nobel Prizes: Riccardo Giacconi in 2002 for the first detection of an x-ray source in the universe, and John Mather and George Smoot in 2008 for measurements of the cosmic background. He then provided an assessment of the current status of answering the five Grand Questions identified by the workshop organizing committee.
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From page 13... ...
Although there was much excitement in 1996 about the martian meteorite ALH 84001, which some believed held evidence of past life on Mars, scientists have since concluded "that we can't conclude" what it shows, Bonnet said. Nevertheless, one of the best ways to look for other life in the solar system is by studying Mars rocks, either on Mars itself or by returning samples to Earth.
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From page 14... ...
PANEL DISCUSSION Miles O'Brien, the journalist who gave the keynote address, and Christie Nicholson, journalist and online contributor for Scientific American, joined Bonnet and Kennel for the panel discussion. Nicholson explained that her specialty is the Web where many can speak to many, not one to many, which is what traditional communications has allowed.
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From page 15... ...
Those are the best moments." Bonnet raised the challenges facing scientists who are busy writing equations or building complex machines, but agreed they have a duty to work with journalists who can translate the value of the science to the public, although sometimes journalists get it wrong. O'Brien cautioned that public affairs officers sometimes get in the way of effective communication between scientists and journalists.
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From page 16... ...
Nicholson said to "people-ize" it because "we do love listening to human stories." She said that she had enjoyed listening to O'Brien's story about Veronica McGregor and her Phoenix tweets. She believes a similar approach is being used for the Cassini spacecraft, but those tweets are not as personalized as what McGregor did with Phoenix.
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