February 21, 2004
I lost my 'Spirit' when I lost my 'Opportunuty' for equal access to the spectroscopic data.
NASA has clearly demonstrated to US that America is no longer the land of 'Spirit' and 'Opportunity'.
Thank-you NASA.
Thomas Lee Elifritz
You must protest this vigourously. I suggest a visit to the whitehouse, where you conduct a breathing strike.
This might cause George W. Bush to laugh so loud that he stops breathing as well.
And will you do the same when Europe has information that is withheld from Americans?
We can only hope..
So much for the open pursuit of science in the Shrub era. Batten down the hatches boys. It's looking like a nasty blow..
Nah. He's still too busy trying to explain on talk shows whether he was more stupid or dishonest about Iraq. So far the public seems to be voting "all of the above".
They're holding back the spectroscopic data until the Presidential election. This will be the "October Surprise" that diverts attention from any scandal that the Democrats cook up.
I don't know exactly what you're talking about but it sounds like you requested raw data from NASA and they refused?
The groups who designed the equipment and experiments probably have first (ALL) dibs on the data so they can publish a bunch of papers and get their next NASA grant written and submitted.
On the other hand, there has been some rumbling about public (I assume you are a US citizen?) access to records of public funded research. In an extreme case, some people want to make it possible for a citizen to contact some research lab at Berkeley or Harvard and say, "I want to see what you're doing with my money." Researchers argue that the paperwork overhead and interruptions would bring their research to a halt (and jeopardize their filing patents and starting companies and getting rich off of the gov funded research).
A more downstream effort has been to require that the results of government funded research be published in journals that have free public access. No more publishing crap in those $$3,000-$10,000 / year journals that few libraries subscribe to. Come to think of it, "free" access excludes Science, Nature, JACS, NEJM, and most other journals, too.
Getting back to your 'Spirit'ed pursuit of the data, I suggest you take the 'Opportunity' to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request ASAP. You can submit the request on-line.
spectroscopic data.
'Spirit' and 'Opportunity'.
raw data from NASA and they refused?
Usually one year. Then it goes public. Usually these days in a net accessible data archive from a satellite/space probe instrument. Go look at the NASA sites. I know people who have spent the last ten years of their lives working on the Cassini probe, and you want accesss to the data right now. No, sorry about that.
a US citizen?) access to records of public funded research. In an extreme case, some people want to make it possible for a citizen to contact some research lab at Berkeley or Harvard and say, "I want to see what you're doing with my money."
Great. I assume you are going to pay for the time necessary to explain it to you and prepare the materials. The grant paid for the time to do the research, nothing more, and not even that.
their research to a halt (and jeopardize their filing patents and starting companies and getting rich off of the gov funded research).
funded research be published in journals that have free public access. No more publishing crap in those $$3,000-$10,000 / year journals that few libraries subscribe to. Come to think of it, "free" access excludes Science, Nature, JACS, NEJM, and most other journals, too.
True, but you do have free access to the technical reports through NTIS in the US (usually these are pretty much identical to the publications with occasional added details. The cost is nominal.
If you want the raw data, they will send it to you as a bitstream, and wish you good luck in figuring it out.
josh halpern
[...]
Pretty much all data generated under a federal grant is NOT covered under FOIA. The only exception is when the work has been published and it has been specifically refered to in some agency action that has force of law. For one summary see
DanZ
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