Journal of Cosmology Contributor Sues NASA To Investigate Mars "Donut" 140
An anonymous reader writes "Rhawn Joseph, a self-described astrobiologist involved with the infamous Journal of Cosmology, is suing NASA, demanding 100 high-resolution photos and 24 micrographs be taken of the 'donut' rock that recently appeared in front of the Opportunity rover on Mars, on the basis that it is a living organism. The remarkable full text of the complaint, which cites NASA's mineralogical analysis of the rock as evidence against it being a rock, is available to read at Popular Science."
Really, the lawsuit is worth a read.
Yawn... (Score:4, Informative)
Translation: Some attention whoring quack is going to waste taxpayer money and NASA time to no good end.
Re:Not like they're in a hurry (Score:5, Informative)
The rover has a finite life until it fails. The donut has already been examined enough for NASA to think it's boring, and there are far more interesting goals further ahead that we'd like to reach before the wheels fall off, the power supply dies, or the sensors get too dusty to function.
Re:Set plan (Score:1, Informative)
Power is not a problem. Curiosity is nuke powered, not solar, so it can run for about 14 years.
http://www.about-robots.com/cu... [about-robots.com]
Except they did release micrographs. (Score:5, Informative)
If this idiotic shitstain spent more than five hard seconds looking at the processed press release images, forgetting to take his meds, and crying conspiracy, he would've discovered that the Mars Exploration Rover site on JPL actually releases every single raw image the second it gets downlinked from Mars, including photos that deny claims of not taking micrographs, and also ignorant of basic traits of the MERs (well, MER now - RIP Spirit), such as the relatively low resolution of its sensors compared to modern standards, the microscopic imager just having a resolution of 1024x1024 and a working area of 3.1cm square at operating distance, and because it doesn't have an light on it like MSL/Curiosity's MAHLI, isn't as good at taking photos of things on the ground, like a little rock on the surface of mars.
In fact, there's even hazcam images of the arm being swung into place, denying that the rover never got close, and that it's actually just the really small rock it is.
Before [nasa.gov] arm placement, and after. [nasa.gov]
Anyways - oh look, close up, in focus images of a mushroom. Not. [nasa.gov] I hope this fuck gets laughed out and never returns.
Re:A waste of time, really? (Score:4, Informative)
They have been imaging the thing for days. So apparently they have plenty of time and money:
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gall... [nasa.gov]
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gall... [nasa.gov]
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gall... [nasa.gov]
http://marsrover.nasa.gov/gall... [nasa.gov]
Re:Except they did release micrographs. (Score:4, Informative)
But they only took 27 images. He demands they do 100.
Because you know he's smart and stuff.