Jeff Bell mouths off again

[davepeilow]

Jeff Bell really needs to go a long way from the space business...<br /><br />Having read yet another load of diatribe from this guy over on SpaceDaily.com (http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-05g.html) I can only come to the conclusion that this guy must be really bitter about not achieving something with his career that compares with the people celebrating yesterday.<br /><br />Yes things happen slightly different over here in Europe, but then you would expect that from a space agency and community with a very different structure. For example, of course the people of various nations want to hear comments about what is happening in their own language, afterall they put up some of the money.<br /><br />Last year he rejoiced at the loss of Beagle 2, now he can't help take desperate potshots at trivial things about this mainly successful mission. He half got my respect back with the "Recovering Space Activist" thing because some of his points had merit, but with this cynical cr*p I'm affraid that it's time SpaceDaily politely suggest he go and do something else - like the gardening.<br /><br /><br />Dave

 

[backspace]

Well, now I have to give him some credit, and that stinks because normally I hate the guy. He's right - we deserved more than what we got, and with a success like this after the Beagle 2 fiasco, they had an amazing chance to energize the European public in support for space. Their handling of this, the secrecy (heh, defeated by more than a few amateurs), the elitism, the banal acknowledgements that seemd so political instead of scientific.... <br /><br />I just know that I was really proud of the way that NASA /JPL handled the MER landing, the Cassini arrival, and the posting of raw images. They have done a WONDROUS job of energizing the public by fostering a "you were there when it came in, too!" feeling amongst all of us. A side note is that when it was originally stated that Cassini images would not be avaliable like the MER data, JPL / NASA responded to the outcry from the public (not the general public, the space cadets like me) and decided to set up the same raw data outlet on the web as MER. <br /><br />ESA had an oppotunity to amaze their funders (taxpayers), and dropped the ball in favor of politics. ESA's AURORA would have little diffculty matching Russian and US space budgets if they'd just pay a little damned attention to making the people believe in the future of space exploration. Instead, it's a lot of post cold-war scientists playing politics for the crumbs left over after national budgets are produced.<br /><br />That's my opinion, flame away.

 

[davepeilow]

I'm not saying everything was perfect here, but there are a few of things that should be considered:<br /><br />1) There was better behind-the-scenes coverage going on from the various national broadcasters, so quite a few of the comments about elitism getting in the way aren't wholly true, because the backroom boys were getting airtime and by channel surfing and keeping one eye on the internet I could see what was going on in Germany, London even JPL on CNN.<br /><br />2) This is ESA's first ever landing and a very rare occasion where we have had such a quick climax to a mission (most of our stuff is ongoing space science). They're not very practiced at it, give 'em a break!<br /><br />3) The last time we had realtime data coming in with scientists trying to comment on it on live TV was Giotto in 1986. The images were very confusing at first and the commentators made a real hash on it. Reportedly Mrs Thatcher's viewing of said program did more to damage British space science in that era than anything else. She thought they had no clue what they were doing and the mission was a waste of money. The buffer here gave some breathing space to interpret the Titan images and stop this sort of thing happening again.<br /><br />4) Following on from the above, ESA got their fingers burnt with Beagle 2, although not strictly their fault. If Huygens had failed, live and in public, this would have been a catastrophe for ESA. A lot of the same people would have had to explain again that nothing was coming back. They gave themselves some time to work out what was happening and what they were going to say. Thank God it wasn't needed...<br /><br />5) Data was coming in from the DSN, being processed in locations across Europe and the US and then released to the world. Perhaps the JPL-style thing wasn't possible on this occasion.<br /><br /><br />You have to remember that ESA is a much smaller operation than NASA (I was surprised to learn less than 2000 employees). It is only recently that the PR

 

[backspace]

Thanks for the insight Dave. I understand the space situation in the EU isn't the same as it is over here. With all the talented folks over there, I feel bad that they don't get a fair shake when it comes down to support. Mind you, I blame the EU government, not ESA itself, for the climate that has produced the situation.

 

[JonClarke]

If Bell has got nothing better to do than slander a team that has successfully landed a probe on another world then he is a bitter, twisted, and small minded man. I stopped reaching Spacedaily months ago because of their continued presentation of this sort of rubbish.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[tsalg]

Well, I *was* a reader of SpaceDaily until this article.<br /><br />Our main problem over here lies in an order of magnitude less money in PR compared to the US. You have all the cash, and mainly we're making do when it comes to comm here.<br /><br />Bell could have saved us his political sections at the end of his<br />article. Some of your phrases like "the common man doesn't count for<br />much", especially coming from an American in these troubled times where freedom doesn't seem to count for much, is outrageous. Has he looked what's happening on his own doorstep these days?<br /><br />As for his stuff about the about Trotskyites and all the rest, that puts him at the same level of ignorance as Ann Coulter and CNN Crossfire co-host Tucker Carlson when they talk about Canada. I think his place as a reporter would probably be at Fox News, and not in SpaceDaily. And having read in another thread here that Simon Mansfield fully supports him says makes me wonder why I ever read it. This is finally the New York Post of Space journalism. Finito. <br /><br />./T

 

[JonClarke]

You should tell spacedaily this ansd that you will not longer visit their web site. I have tried argument with them, they are impervious to reason. Declining visits because of malicious articles means less advertisers.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[najab]

It's ESA's probe, it's ESA's party. End of story.

 

[davf]

I didn't mind his other 'trespasses' too much. But it's pretty sad when his commentary focusses more on the press conference than on the accomplishment. Anyone remember Dana Carvey's 'Angry Old Man' character from Saturday Night Live? <br /><br />You hit the nail on the head.

 

[Aetius]

I stopped visiting SpaceDaily several Bell diatribes ago. A number of other space sites have better articles, even ones critical of manned spaceflight, than that one.

 

[davepeilow]

Hi,<br /><br />Those of you who have given up probably haven't seen it, but this thread made SpaceDaily. It seems we bothered the publisher <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br /><br />Dave

 

[Aetius]

Thanks, Dave. That Postscript was pure gold. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[toymaker]

The key point is cultural misunderstaning...<br />Public opinion isn't that much important in most European countries as in USA... <br />Funny they protect Bell so much, must be a personal friend of someone there....And like said before nobody asks him to be sucked, but stop personal attacks etc...<br />There was a good discussion about this here :<br />http://uplink.space.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=missions&Number=42116&page=&view=&sb=&o=&fpart=all&vc=1<br />Otherwise they would notice that it is not critic people are complaining about but way he does-insults, false claims etc...<br />Of course It is interesting that in his previous article he promised to show us his views on good ways to explore space...Instead he just did his usuall act of attacking somebodies else success(unless I missed the article)...You judge what to think about that.