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NASA P.R. machine revs up, skirts issue of missing images In a letter dated May 30, 2001, NASA addressed the issue of "missing" Cydonia images in a two sentence reply from Public Affairs Officer Donald L. Savage. Followers of the Cydonia saga may remember Mr. Savage as the P.R. official who found himself in the awkward position of defending the space agency's stance on Cydonia as far back as 1993. In a communication with SPSR's Stanley McDaniel on August 17 eight years ago, Mr. Savage admitted that no "study per se" had been conducted by NASA on the Cydonia landforms. Unfortunately Mr. Savage finds himself in the same predicament today (there still have been no studies on the Cydonia landforms). And again he has been charged with answering a pointed question about NASA's foibles vis-a-vis Cydonia. Two questions arise from NASA's latest letter. The first: why is the Public Affairs Officer answering for Dr. Weiler, who, as one of Administrator Dan Goldin's right hand men, most assuredly is capable of explaining why he made such a blatant error in his original communication with FACETS? The error, in this case, is Dr. Weiler's contention in SIX different places in his letter, that the new "face" imagery was had been released on "multiple public web sites" by April 19, 2001. The second question: why is the letter dated May 30, 2001? FACETS' inquiry about the missing images (which showed up suddenly and without warning on May 24, 2001) was not mailed to NASA until June 5, 2001. Perhaps NASA discovered Dr. Weiler's six different mis-statements and felt compelled to set the record straight before FACETS asked how Dr. Weiler could have been so misinformed. Or perhaps Mr. Savage has been called in for "damage control." [CORRECTION: 6/13/01--Mr. Savage's letter was apparently in response not to FACETS' letter of June 5, but to that of May 21, in which we asked for the URL to the new Cydonia images. The June 5 letter asks for an explanation of why Dr. Weiler made the error regarding relese dates. FACETS is still awaiting a response to its June 5 letter.] I am still cautiously optimistic, but it is my fear that we are witnessing the beginning of a shift from new found (and ultimately short lived) openness at NASA to a new phase of spin doctoring at the hands of the NASA P.R. machine. FACETS is hoping that future correspondence from NASA, particularly that regarding FACETS' list of ten target sites, will be characterized by the enthusiasm and helpfulness of Dr. Weiler's initial letter to FACETS, rather than the disinterest and bluntness of Mr. Savage's. Only time will tell which "face" of NASA will emerge next. Following is the text of NASA's recent letter to FACETS: Peter A. Gersten May 30, 2001 Dear Mr. Gersten: We regret that Dr. Weiler's letter to you of May 11 contained an error regarding the date of public availability of the latest images of the Mars Cydonia "face" feature. Those images were posted on May 24 and may be accessed at: http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/extended_may2001/face/index.html Sincerely,
Donald L. Savage Public Affairs Officer Office of Space Science cc: Sen. John McCain | |
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