Chuck writes:

> But you never seem to tire of the elitist nonsense.

Here's more of that same elitist nonsense.

NASA is holding right now a conference on exploration and risk at the Naval 
Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA at the behest of the NASA Administrator, 
Sean O'Keefe. The central question of this symposium is to discuss the nature of 
human exploration, its inherent risks, and whether or not it can or should be 
conducted robotically.

Today is the second day of the symposium, and the second session begins in 
about 20 minutes. I just watched yesterday's session this morning and I was 
quite impressed. The people that NASA has assembled for these discussions are the 
elite of the elite, but that doesn't mean that I particularly agree with their 
emphases. Nevertheless, so far, the symposium has been a very stimulating and 
interesting discussion.

The entire process is being carried live on NASA TV, which is also on the 
internet. I've included below a NASA press release on the symposium below. If you 
have the time, I believe that you'll find that it's well worth watching.

Wirt Atmar

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Subj:    ADMINISTRATOR'S SYMPOSIUM EXAMINES EXPLORATION AND RISK
Date:   9/22/04 7:18:57 PM Mountain Daylight Time
From:   [log in to unmask]
Sender: [log in to unmask]

Glenn Mahone/Bob Jacobs
Headquarters, Washington                              Sept. 22, 2004
(Phone: 202/358-1898/1600)

Ann Sullivan
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
(Phone: 650/604-3039)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N04-151

ADMINISTRATOR'S SYMPOSIUM EXAMINES EXPLORATION AND RISK

Have you ever been into space, in a research submarine, or been a part of a 
remote polar research base? Whether it's exploring the depths of our oceans 
or 
reaching the top of our highest mountains, great feats often involve great 
risk. 

During a special symposium hosted by Administrator Sean O'Keefe, NASA 
examines 
the similarities between space exploration and other terrestrial expeditions 
with 
the help of some of the best known explorers in the world, including mountain 
climbers, deep sea explorers, scientists and science fiction writers. The 
discussions also will include NASA astronauts, other notable aeronautics and 
deep 
space explorers.

The symposium, "Risk and Exploration: Earth, Sea and the Stars," will be 
carried 
live Sept. 27-28 on NASA TV and webcast on www.nasa.gov from the Naval 
Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. 

Sessions and participants:

Monday, Sept. 27 – 5:30 p.m. EDT

Session One – Earth
Moderator: Chris McKay, Planetary Scientist, NASA's Ames Research Center 
(ARC), 
Calif.
?   Ed Viesturs, American High-altitude Mountaineer
?   Penny Boston, Director of Cave and Karst Studies, New Mexico Institute of 
Mining and Technology
?   Dale Andersen, Astrobiologist, Antarctic/Artic researcher, SETI Institute
?   Nathalie Cabrol, Planetary Geologist, ARC, SETI Institute
?   Bill Stone, President, Stone Aerospace
?   David Roberts, Writer specializing in mountain climbing, adventure, and 
archaeology

Tuesday, Sept. 28 – 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. EDT

Session Two – Sea
Moderator: David Halpern, Senior Policy Analyst, White House Office of 
Science 
and Technology Policy
?   John Chatterton, Professional Diver, featured in the book, Shadow Divers
?   Sylvia Earle, Founder and Chairman, Deep Ocean Exploration and Research
?   Jean Michel Cousteau, President, Ocean Futures Society
?   Mike Gernhardt, NASA astronaut
?   James Cameron, Academy Award winning director, undersea explorer
?   Laurence Bergreen, author, Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's 
Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe

Session Three – The Stars
Moderator: John Grunsfeld, NASA Chief Scientist and astronaut
?   Harrison Schmidt, former NASA astronaut
?   Shannon Lucid, NASA astronaut
?   Steve Squyres, Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University, Scientific 
Principal Investigator for the Mars Exploration Rover mission
?   Jim Garvin, NASA Chief Scientist for Mars and the moon
?   John Mather, James Webb Space Telescope Senior Project Scientist, NASA's 
Goddard Space Flight Center
?   Graham Yost, Writer/Director, From the Earth to the Moon

Times and participants are subject to change. See the NASA TV schedule on the 
Internet for the latest updates.

NASA TV is available in the continental United States on AMC-6, at 72 degrees 
west longitude, Transponder 9, 3880 MHz, vertical polarization, audio at 6.8 
MHz. 
If you live in Alaska or Hawaii, NASA TV is on AMC-7, at 137 degrees west 
longitude, Transponder 18, at 4060 MHz, vertical polarization, and audio at 
6.8 
MHz.

For more information about NASA TV or to watch the events on the Internet, 
visit:

 http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

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