| Author |
Message |
Hans E. Hansen (4re_gt4)
Member
Username: 4re_gt4
Post Number: 836
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 5:07 pm: | |
Will that make them faster? |
William H (Countachxx)
Intermediate Member
Username: Countachxx
Post Number: 1821
Registered: 2-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 7:45 am: | |
perhaps they want to test the paint in order to paint future spacecraft Rosso Corsa ? |
Hans E. Hansen (4re_gt4)
Member
Username: 4re_gt4
Post Number: 833
Registered: 4-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 29, 2003 - 7:02 am: | |
I don't get it either. Why send up a container of paint? I could understand if it were some sort of experiment to try and paint something in space, but as I understand it, the paint won't be used for anything. Just plain dumb. |
'75 308 GT4 (Peter)
Intermediate Member
Username: Peter
Post Number: 2437
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Monday, January 27, 2003 - 11:09 pm: | |
It would be one thing to paint the spacecraft in the Ferrari red paint (that would be cool: red planet/red spaceship), but all they're doing is filling a glass bowl with it and carrying it on the spaceship. What's the f---ing point in doing that?!?!? |
Tim N (Timn88)
Intermediate Member
Username: Timn88
Post Number: 2103
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 26, 2003 - 10:24 pm: | |
They are racing a race that no one is even considering, due to its rediculousness. I dont see how it can even be thought of as a "race". frankly, i think its just a dumb idea. |
JRV (Jrvall)
Member
Username: Jrvall
Post Number: 713
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, January 26, 2003 - 7:29 pm: | |
A Race is a Race, and Racing is in their Blood.
;-)
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Tim N (Timn88)
Intermediate Member
Username: Timn88
Post Number: 2101
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, January 26, 2003 - 7:24 pm: | |
I still dont understand why they did this. |
JRV (Jrvall)
Member
Username: Jrvall
Post Number: 712
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, January 26, 2003 - 7:00 pm: | |
The Grand Prix of space missions
Ferrari and Mars Express: World and Solar System champions?
By Helen Briggs
BBC News Online science reporter in Toulouse
Ferrari has proved itself to be the best racing team on Earth and now it is headed for Mars.
A blob of the mark's famous red paint sealed inside a tiny glass globe is to travel to the fourth planet on Europe's Mars Express mission.
The special paint sample
It was placed on board at a formal ceremony here in Toulouse, France, after being declared "space qualified".
"Long life to Ferrari and long life to Mars Express and the scientific programme of the European Space Agency (Esa)," said Jean-Louis Marce, director-general of Intespace, the company that tested and cleared the paint for flight.
The link with Ferrari marks a new move by Esa to get more Europeans interested in space.
David Southwood, the director of science at Esa, said Europe would be going to nine celestial bodies in the next decade. "This is a serious programme and Mars will open the door," he said.
Achieve the best
Mars Express is due to be launched next May and should arrive at its destination in time for Christmas 2003.
It will speed to Mars at 10,800 kilometres per hour (6,700 miles per hour), much faster than anything seen at a Grand Prix.
Ferrari agreed to the idea in response to a proposal by Esa.
Space promotions
1998: Cosmonauts on Mir advertise products on a shopping channel
2000: Pizza Hut advertises on a Russian rocket
2001: Cosmonauts on the International Space Station place an advert for Kodak on the outside of the platform
Director-general of the agency, Antonio Rodota, said it was an entirely non-commercial tie-up. He said there was symbolic value in joining the red paint of Ferrari with the Red Planet.
"To achieve the best results in space and in a race, we have to use the best technology in the world," he added.
This venture by Esa into space marketing follows moves by the Russian space agency that include hosting ads for photographic company Kodak on the International Space Station and putting a Pizza Hut ad on the side of a rocket.
Some scientists, though, are uneasy about what they see as the over-commercialisation of space missions.
Mark Williamson, an independent space technology consultant, says it seems like a bit of a gimmick.
"There's no logical reason why you should space qualify paint for Ferrari (cars)," he said.
But he thinks the idea of private companies getting involved in space missions is a good one.
Ads for aliens
Dr Steve Miller, a planetary scientist at University College, London, UK, agrees.
Logos on rockets and a bit of press and publicity are one thing. The limit is if it starts getting in the way of scientific work
Dr Martin Barstow
A case in point is Beagle-2, the British-built lander that will be dropped on to the Martian surface by Mars Express.
Team leader Professor Colin Pillinger says they need to pay back money they borrowed in order to meet their schedule for producing the space craft.
He says they are careful to avoid unethical advertising or anything that would reduce resources available for the mission's science.
"We certainly would draw the line on Beagle on doing anything such as sticking up a placard for advertising's sake," he told BBC News Online.
Night sky
It is a question of where you draw the line, says Dr Martin Barstow of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Leicester in central England.
"Advertising is okay as long as it doesn't get out of hand," he told BBC News Online.
Cosmonaut Yuri Usachov takes a pizza delivery
"Logos on rockets and a bit of press and publicity is one thing. The limit is if it starts getting in the way of scientific work.
"Space exploration is about scientific curiosity - we don't want where we go in space taken out of our hands by advertising."
He balks at the idea of space literally being used as a huge billboard.
"To unfurl some kind of giant advertising hoarding in space is on the edge of being technically feasible," he said.
"It's a terrible idea and would pollute the night sky for astronomers and everyone else."
Soft drink giants Coca Cola and Pepsi were recently criticised over the painting of their logos on Himalayan rocks.
It looks like any attempts by companies to use space as a canvas would face similar controversy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2261421.stm
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