Carolyn Porco, for those readers who been hiding under a rock for like the past five years, is the imaging team leader for the Cassini Saturn probe. Those incredible images returned from the mission? Yeah, she’s in charge of that.
She is also a fantastic speaker. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing her give talks twice, and both times she was riveting, presenting incredible images from Saturn and waxing poetic on what we have learned.
If you life in the Denver/Boulder area, then run, do not walk, to reserve your seats for her presentation At Saturn: Tripping the Flight Fantastic on the University of Colorado campus on April 28th at 7:30 p.m. I’ll be there, too.
After her presentation at SpaceFest last year, Buzz Aldrin said she should be "Secretary General of the United Nations of the Solar System". Come to her lecture and see why.
April 15th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
here is a link to one Carolyn Porco’s fantastic talks:
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/178
paul b
April 15th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I almost feel like she’s my aunt or something, since I’m such the science nerd and have seen her on every TV show concerning a mission to either Jupiter or Saturn…
Her hair has changed quite a bit since Voyager, I must say….
April 15th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I’m noticing a definite pattern of you suggesting that everyone who isn’t intimately familiar with the subject you’re talking about has been “hiding under a rock.” I don’t mean to sound disdainful, but I don’t feel that my not knowing the name of every team member on every NASA project should automatically relegate me to rock-underside residence status.
April 15th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
“At Saturn: Tripping the Light Fantastic”
“Light” should be “Flight”, or at least thats what it looks like on the poster.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I assume BA was being a least a bit facetious there and I admit that I may be rather closer to the issue than is good for perspective. That said, in his defense, Carolyn isn’t a random team-members of an obscure instrument on an obscure mission. She’s the *leader* (and thus the face of) the imaging instrument (=highest profile instrument) on NASA’s largest robotic mission to date. She and Steve Squyres (Mars rovers) are people I can see someone expecting a space-enthusiast to know from seeing them around on TV and in print. Plus, BA has mentioned her fairly frequently on this very blog.
(Also, we appreciate the advertisement, Phil!)
April 15th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Have you read the book Deep Time by Gregory Benford?
It seems Ms. Porco was not very nice about putting a
detailed message on the Cassini probe. Instead she
forced the issue so that only a bunch of signatures
got placed on the probe.
Go read the book and see what I am talking about.
April 15th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
More issues with Dr. Porco and being not being “nice”
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=3817&pid=84265&mode=threaded&start=
April 16th, 2008 at 5:10 am
Hello Phil, sorry if my comment is unrelated to the current article, but would you mind commenting on this http://www.physorg.com/news127499715.html
in a further post?
April 16th, 2008 at 5:11 am
Hello,
Sorry if my comment is unrelated to the current article, but would you mind giving your opinion on this http://www.physorg.com/news127499715.html in a further post?
April 16th, 2008 at 5:47 am
oops, and sorry about posting twice, i got an error the first time (wordpress complaining about an invalid regex in the address blacklist or something)
April 16th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Thanks, Phil, for sending out the word about my talk. I appreciate it.
As for the comments about me not being `nice’, well I guess you can’t please everyone! But more to the point, I’ve already mentioned, even here on the pages of BA, that those two incidents cited are rubbish. Benford’s book is a fabrication, and the unmannedspaceflight issue was much ado about absolutely nothing. Those folks are having fun working with our images, and I couldn’t be happier.
And now that we’ve gotten an official extension of the Cassini mission for another two years, there’ll be a lot more to come.
Hope to see you in Boulder on the 28th.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Man, I wish sometimes I could post something without someone trying to take it over in the comments as a personal stump.
IRA, anonymous: those ideas have been posted here before, and the evidence is thin. It’s a he said/she said situation, and IMO it’s inappropriate for you to post it here. Please stop leaving comments like this when I post about Dr. Porco. Take it someplace else.
April 16th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Thanks for linking to this, Phil!
I’ve reserved my tickets now. Maybe I’ll see you there!
April 16th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Man, every time I read the comments section on here I feel like I at some uber-cool science nerd party. Of course, sometimes I seem to have wandered into the bad attitude section of said party, but never mind..
Keep on keepin’ on, BA
April 16th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I want to echo Phil’s comments. Carolyn and I agreed to disagree on that issue more than a year ago and who ever it is who keeps linking to it every time her name is mentioned should grow up and move on.
I can vouch, first hand, for the fact that she is an EXCELLENT speaker, as I was fortunate enough to see a lecture she gave to the BAA a couple of years ago.
April 16th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Doug, I appreciate your support here. Thanks very much.
But, before we all put it behind us, I have to say I’m not even sure what you mean by `agreeing to disagree’. The whole issue was, as I said, a gross misinterpretation and misunderstanding, on both sides. In the end, not a disagreement at all.
And now that it’s been cleared up (hopefully for good), let’s give it all a rest, and enjoy Cassini’s new lease on life….especially this coming August when we dive in for another extremely close at Enceladus. It isn’t everyday that we discover an environment within our solar system, outside of Earth, that is this fascinating. So, let’s stay focused on what’s up ahead.
Best to all of you.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
once again you see Dr Porco trying to wiggle out of situations and actions where she got caught doing something wrong.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Nope…haven’t done anything wrong, and not trying to wiggle. Just have a very different point of view.
A diversity of opinions and views is to be expected in almost all things in life, and this situation is no different.
April 17th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Carolyn Porco isn’t nice?
Fascinating. If a male scientist were in her position as the leader of the most visible instrument — the very eyes as it were — of the most spectacularly successful spacecraft ever to scientifically investigate the outer solar system — would we be reading some of these comments? Hmmmm…
Carolyn is a fabulous speaker and if you have the opportunity to go see her — by all means do. She is as spectacular as the images she oversees being beamed back from the Saturnian system every day. You are in for a treat.
As far as the comments on the “controversy” with Benford goes, it is much ado about nothing (based on my fact checking on the matter and Dr. Porco’s own straight forward explanation).
There seems to be a small faction of people that like to make snotty comments (often anonymously) about Carolyn in a variety of forums. Like any famous person doing incredible work — you get your detractors. It kind of reminds me of the people that Phil started combating at the start of this Bad Astronomy website. People that try to tear down the Apollo Program by claiming the whole thing is a hoax. Jim Oberg called them “cultural vandals.” Go accomplish something great — then you might not have time for engaging in ad hominem bashing.
Is Carolyn Porco nice? Does it matter? To those who actually know her — yes it does. Carolyn Porco is a brilliant scientist who has overcome many obstacles to accomplish great things. She’s also one of the most kind and generous souls on the planet. But she will defend herself if she feels wrongfully dealt with in a public forum. If the facts weren’t on her side — she wouldn’t bother. The fact that she does, tells you something.
And for the record — Carolyn Porco is nice.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
I’ve known Carolyn Porco since she was a research assistant for Brad Smith (the Voyager imaging team leader) in the late 70s. She is a driven individual, and her personal power and brilliance has rubbed some men (who considered themselves AS briliant and driven, also) the wrong way, when they find out that they are mere mortals in the presence of real greatness.
I built Spacefest around her storied talk, and cancelled the ‘Fest once when the dates didn’t work out for her. It was a resounding success, due in no small part to Carolyn and the BA’s talks. Although many came to see the seven of the nine living Moonwalkers we assembled, she so charmed Gene Cernan and Buzz Aldrin with her knowledge that they still talk about it.
She will fill textbooks and journals with her briliiance and findings for generations. We are fortunate to live in this era.
Kim Poor
April 20th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
If I may ask, why would Gregory Benford make up the story
about Carolyn Porco and why did the Cassini disk end up the
way it did rather than with the images and artwork initially planned?
I am not trying to put down anyone, I would just like to know
why one person supposedly lied over another? What went on
that we are not being told about?
April 22nd, 2008 at 12:30 pm
I have known Carolyn Porco for more than twenty years and can attest to the fact that for her, planetary science is not merely an occupation, but a lifelong consummate passion. I encourage those fortunate enough to be in the Boulder/Denver area on April 28th to attend her talk on the CU campus. The enthusiasm and energy with which she presents Cassini’s spectacular images from Saturn are infectious as well as inspiring. So, don’t miss this opportunity to sit back and enjoy a front row seat on a spaceship a billion miles from the Sun for a visual tour of one of the most fascinating places in the Solar System, guided by the leader of the team responsible for bringing those images to humankind.
And I echo Kim Poor’s comment above… fortunate indeed.