TED Community » Emily Lakdawalla

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  A comment on Conversation: Why don't we have more "Kitchen" scientists?

  Feb 13 2012: Space exploration offers a huge number of ways for the public to participate in science and scientific exploration, via their computer and an internet connection. Every photo from every NASA mission since the Mariners flew past Mars is available for download from NASA websites, and by browsing through them you can feel like you're riding along with the robotic spacecraft, exploring other worlds. The Opportunity Mars rover and Cassini Saturn orbiter actually post all photos on the Web as soon as they come to Earth -- you can go see what those spacecraft are exploring right now, and you could actually see the photos before the science teams do! Nowadays, spacecraft return so much data to Earth that if you pick a photo from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter or Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, odds are good you'll be looking at data that only one or two other people have ever examined. You can actively contribute to space science research through citizen science projects like those at zooniverse.org, by mapping & classifying lunar craters, hunting in telescope photos for faint Kuiper belt objects, and lots of other fun stuff. This isn't playing at doing science -- it's actually being a scientist, and both kids and adults can participate.