General Tips and Suggested Questions
 For JPL Mars Odyssey Public Lectures

On May 9th and 10th, Mars Odyssey Project Manager Roger Gibbs will be giving lectures on the current Mars Odyssey mission. These lectures will be open to the public and begin at 7:00 PM local time in Pasadena, California. Details can be found here: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures/may02.html.

The Enterprise Mission would like as many members of our "team" as possible to attend these lectures and be prepared to ask questions. Get there early and make sure you have a chance to question Dr. Gibbs and any other Odyssey personnel that may be in attendance. Here are some general tips and guidelines, as well as some suggested question for you to ask if you get in. Remember, seating is limited.
 

General Tips

  • Don't sit together in a group. If you come with others, spread yourselves out around the room so they cannot avoid a certain area and thereby avoid difficult questions.

  • Do NOT be rude. Approach this as an effort by those that want to get the story out to help our cause. Nail down as much information as you can from them, but if someone is stonewalling you on an answer, move on and let another member of our team follow up. Do not allow yourself to become an isolated "troublemaker." Make them see there are many people in the general public interested in answers on this issue.

  • Don't wait. Ask your questions early and often.

  • Don't let them focus only on the Face. Remind them at every turn that the whole Cydonia question revolves around much more than "just" the Face. Be sure to call the other objects by name, i.e. "the D&M Pyramid", "the City", "the Tholus."

  • Record what they say. We cannot emphasize this enough. Either tape record the sessions or take notes. Get accurate quotes whenever possible.

  • Nail them down on commitments. Don't let them get off with vague promises. If they promise to post something on the web, be sure they commit to a date. If they say they can't be sure, get them to commit to a time frame; i.e. by the end of the week or the end of the month of May. Make them be specific.

  • Don't let them get away with passing off opinions as "science." Ask them what geologic processes could account for an object with stunning geometric symmetries like the "D&M." If they say "wind," press them to be specific; i.e. how does the wind choose to change direction every few years around the apex of the pyramid? And wouldn't wind smooth one side while sculpting another? Make them give specifics for specific objects.

Questions

Question # 1: 

"Why did NASA send a sophisticated, expensive COLOR camera for THE FIRST TIME all the way to Mars on Odyssey ... if all it intends to give us is more 'same old, same old' black and white?

Question # 2:

"What is your scientific reaction to Odyssey's preliminary confirmation of the Hoagland/Bara 'Mars Tidal Model?'  Are you aware that the announced GRS distribution of hydrogen/water at two 'poles' -- located on opposite sides of the equator -- is EXACTLY as they predicted for a former 'tidal ocean' on the planet, with all its major implications?"

Question # 3:

"Why is the announced release Month -- November -- for the first large batch of Odyssey images now delayed THREE MONTHS beyond the initial August, 2002 date posted on the official THEMIS website?  Who's hiding what?"

Question # 4:

"Now that you have released the black and white visible light camera image of Cydonia, do you consider your promise to re-image that area to be fulfilled? If not, when will the spacecraft be in a position to take an infrared nighttime image of the Face and surrounding structures?" (Make them be specific on a time frame).

Question # 5:

"When you do have a chance to take an IR image, do you intend to provide advance notice per NASA/JPL's stated policy on Cydonia?" (http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/cydonia.html). If they do not know of the policy, print it out and\or provide the URL to them. Ask them again if they intend to comply.

The official THEMIS image release policy can be found here: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/pip/2001MarsOdyssey-PIP2.pdf
 

Question # 6:

"Have you already taken any infrared or color images of the Cydonia region? If so, when will they be released?"

Question # 7:

If they make any statements to the effect that Cydonia or the Face do not meet the standard for being considered "artificial," ask them to provide a copy of NASA's internal standards for determining artificiality, if in fact such a standard exists.

Question # 8:

"What is your reaction to the National Research Council's recent recommendation to NASA, that it land on Mars in places WHERE THERE IS NO LIFE?!  Doesn't this make a mockery of NASA's entire history, if not Administrator O'Keeke's recent vision -- that NASA must look "for Life Beyond," including on Mars, as part of its 21st Century mandate?"
 

And by all means, print out images of the D&M, the Tholus, the Eyeball in the Face, etc., and don't hesitate to hold them up and ask the scientists present to explain their theories of they formed. And remember, a description is not the same thing as an explanation.