aesmael

Note: Originally posted at feminist_rage

So we have a post at Bad Astronomy, where it is announced a new probe to Mars has been named Curiosity and that the name was bestowed by a sixth-grader named Clara Ma. Some of her essay was quoted:

Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s mind. It makes me get out of bed in the morning and wonder what surprises life will throw at me that day. Curiosity is such a powerful force. Without it, we wouldn’t be who we are today. […] Curiosity is the passion that drives us through our everyday lives. We have become explorers and scientists with our need to ask questions and to wonder. Sure, there are many risks and dangers, but despite that, we still continue to wonder and dream and create and hope. We have discovered so much about the world, but still so little. We will never know everything there is to know, but with our burning curiosity, we have learned so much.

What do we get? Some commenter complaining that "I for one am tired of this PC campaign with cutesy names for major important science missions. Jesus, I’m surprised she didn’t call it My Pretty Pony or Hanna Montana."

What? What can he* possibly draw from that to be called cutesy, to be saying apparently on no other basis than her age and gender that she is some frivolous airhead whose every contribution is automatically worthless? It doesn't seem to me to be from the name itself, or what she wrote in favour of it, so it sure looks like he is just expressing an opinion young girls are automatically worthless, attributing to them the most devalued interests and expressions he can think of.

Later on he attributes her selection to being Asian, so at least he is being efficiently bigotted? As we all know, 'political correctness' means we favour people on the basis of gender, ethnicity etc. first and only then consider if they personally have any merit, right? That belief so far is the only way I have been able to make sense of his claims, apparently that she was selected first and we just got, what, lucky that she hadn't picked the name My Pretty Pony? Am very skeptical this would have played out the same if she had been a boy, or had a perceived masculine name, since it is so much more acceptable for a boy to be thought of as holding serious interests.

Also v. unimpressed with all the people doubting she wrote that essay herself.

*self-titled as 'man' in naming, so I feel safe in attributing gender.

Edit: Now I want to scream. Am behind on my astronomical news, catching up on reading and now seen the news on two other sites which are getting the same criticism.

"At least it wasn't named Fluffy Miss Muffybunny..... (Note: NEVER give young girls unilateral naming power over anything other than rabbits or horses....)"

"So when is NASA going to stop letting little girls and fake talk show hosts name their spacecraft?

Now I am waiting for the Hanna Montana mission to Jupiter.

Or maybe the Jonas Brothers space probe to Venus."

What are these people THINKING? That she won the competition and then got to call it whatever she wanted? How does this make sense as a criticism of her being the person to name it otherwise? I just... it seems like all people are seeing is 'young girl names Mars rover' and their minds leap straight to 'frivolous', 'obsessive' and 'irritating'.

I just hope the awesomeness of the prize makes up to her for any flak she may cop personally. Well, that and that people would stop being oppressive, bigoted arseholes.

    Lots of instrumentation information here as probes study Mars during one of its famous dust storms. The rovers, however, are in an endurance race. Will battery power be sufficient for them to continue operating until the sky clears?

    I did not know the HiRISE team has a blog until I read that article. Now I am wondering how many other missions and instruments have blogs I could be reading to keep updated.

I'm a bit behind the times but maybe there are people out there who still haven't heard (as if this won't be plastered all over the news).

First bit (older bit), NASA has been a bit more concrete on plans to send people back to the moon, to establish a more permanent colony (after the last one failed miserably) and eventually send humans to Mars (I assume at  some point they will be brought back too). Word is they are doing their best to make it sound boring, but how can it not be thrilling? That thing, up in the sky, there will be people standing on it, walking around. Eating, drinking, looking back at us with telescopes. Having sex, no doubt. I wasn't even alive the last time anyone went to the Moon. I wonder what will be the content of the first lunar blog post?

Report: Good grief NASA's website is annoying to get information out of. But apparently the first manned flight goes to the Moon in 2014 at the latest. So... 8 years? And their new Orion vehicle going up no later than 2020. So what will the first few lots be in? Oh, it is the Orion that is launched no later than 2014 but not going to the Moon until 2020. I don't see anything about when they expect to be getting to Mars.

One complaint, one big complaint. NASA is not getting any extra funding to pursue these projects declared by Bush a few years ago so they are having to cut funds to it seem like just about every other project, probe and mission they have just to keep this and the International Space Station going. I would be unreservedly enthusiastic if this were not cutting into our ability to learn about the rest of the universe. Perhaps most importantly though, I may have to revise the story for Serial B if this keeps up.

Newer news, seems there is strong evidence of liquid water on Mars. Very strong, not quite conclusive. I'm swayed but I have nothing riding on it Sure wasn't expecting anything like this though, I had thought water on Mars was just wishful thinking.

And more distant planetary news, Centauri Dreams reports that COROT is ready for launch soon. Might not be too long before we find our first terrestrial planets beyond the solar system. 'Tis a good time to be alive.