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Laser-Scanning U.S. Landmarks
MeanMF writes "The New York Daily News reports in this article that the National Park Service is creating detailed 3-D maps of national monuments such as the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore using high-resolution laser scanners. Their goal is to create highly-accurate blueprints that can be used to reconstruct the monuments if they are damaged by a terrorist attack or other means." The same story is also available at Yahoo!.
So this is my tax dollars hard at work.
A Fatal OE Exception has occurred, Sig will now reboot.
Would we really want to replace them though? Seems to me this would be like rebuildign the World Trade Centers exactly like they were, and noone is suggesting that, so why would monuments be different?
Not to sound crass or anything, but is that really what people would want? If an historic monument is destroyed, replacing it doesn't mean that it never happenend, it just means that it was replaced.
I would think that if something like this were to happen, then some new, awe-inspiring monument could be built. However, It seems to me that there has been a dearth in people eligible for immortalization in a mountain face (for example) for quite a while now.
no one would know the replacements weren't *exact*, would they?
How many millions do they intend to spend to replicate every ding and pidgeon dropping aquired over decades and not intended by the original artist in the first place?
When you total your car, you can have it fixed or you can buy a new one, but attempting to *duplicate* the old one down to the placement of the least little old molocule not only pretty much defines "prohibitively expensive", but A: Isn't possible, and B: As an idea is just plain doofey.
KFG
Rather than destruction, think maintainence. After all the biggest threat to these structures is age. Documenting their condition now gives a benchmark to comapre against future conditions. That will make it possible to detect slow changes.
From the title, I imagined that having accurate 3D models of monuments could serve educational purposes... But it was just to reconstruct them in case of terrorist attacks! I mean, really, is anyone else sick of terrorism being the number 1 excuse for everything?
Engage!
May not admit it, this project probably has a far more mundane purpose than the stated one of restoration in the event of terrorist attack. I think documentation and preservation are probably their goals. They want this information to record and document the process of oxidation on Lady Liberty, or how long Washington's nose is on Rushmore. However with the current climate it is far easier to get funding if there is a terrorism angle as opposed to boring old historical preservation. (When was the last time you read an article on monument preservation?)
Then terrorists may be able to use it to their advantage to find weakspots in (for eg) Mount Rushmore. I imagine they will be able to find flaws in rushmore that could be exploited by high explosives.
I wish I hadn't thought of that...
I agree, to some extent, that the idea of replacing the Statue of Liberty, Mt Rushmore, the Capitol Building, or any other well-known national monument as exactly as possible is slightly silly. The comment made about replacing a car after a crash, and not wanting to replicate all of the origonal dings and scratches is somewhat reasonable.
But I think you're missing the point about the symbolism and memories contained in these monuments. If my car was totaled, I would be sad not only because I would have lost simply a means of transportation, but I would have lost a location where memories were made. Driving on the highway while friends taunted the 18 year-old engine ("Wow! It hit 55! You think it can get to sixty?"), packing 7 people into a 2-door hatchback, etc. I'd miss all that had happened in the car, as well as the car itself.
Likewise, losing the Statue of Liberty to terrorists, a giant space-crane, Godzilla, or whatever won't simply mean there's new real-estate open on Liberty Island. It'll mean a national monument that watched over hundreds of thousands of immigrants, saw the USA through two World Wars, a presidential assasination, putting people on the moon, the Cold War, Vietnam, etc, etc, etc, will be gone.
I use the Statue of Liberty as an example because I think it's America's 'best' and 'most important' monument. I don't particularly care for Mt. Rushmore (I think it's vaguely creepy), and the Capitol Building doesn't impress me much. The Statue of Liberty represents ideals that America hasn't always been great holding true to, I admit. I'll be the first to criticize the current administration and have no problem pointing out ways we've screwed up in the past. We've fucked up a lot, both internaly and with the rest of the world, and I'm sure we'll continue doing it. But I think the Statue of Liberty, or the Lincoln Memorial, or the Jefferson, or the Washington represent what is, has, and (I _really_ hope) will continue to be great about the USA.
So. I don't think mapping these monuments down to a quarter inch is 'silly' or 'stupid' or a 'waste of time.' Having recently visited New York and seen Lady Liberty up close, and still strongly remembering my 8th grade clase trip to Washington D.C., I would be heartbroken if any of a number of our national monuments fell. I can't honestly say I would support rebuilding the Statue of Liberty exactly as she stood. It would be kind of weird, I recognize that.
But I definatly think we should have the option. At the very least, it will allow for faithful 3D models to be replicated. Maybe someday my kids will be able to walk through a 3D model of New York City _exactly_ the way it stood on September 10th, 2001.
So maybe these 3D models will be completely useless, either because the monuments will not be attacked or because people won't want to rebuild them exactly the same.
But I think it would be a horrible shame not to have the option.
-Trillian
Yeah, because it's America's "destructive foreign policy" that causes terrorism. NOT a totally immoral, savage worldview (i.e. fundamentalist Islam) that helps breed it and make it a reality. That's like saying McDonald's causes obesity, and not the fat motherfuckers who decide to eat Big Mac's for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Personal responsibility for everyone -- including terrorism.
Come on. Terrorists choose to be terrorists -- there is a clear line between those who are unhappy with American policy, and those who decide to kill innocent people in protest of it.
Too late.
Why is everything these days "because of the terrorists"? It used to be "the commies", before that "the Nips", before that "the blacks" and before that "the Injuns". Are we at war with Eurasia or Eastasia just now? Can you not see a trend?
Why can't the US people see how easy they are being manipulated?
Oh well guess I should cancel that trip to the Statue of Liberty.
The US Government has money troubles, and this technology is not cheap, definitely not to scan all the monuments. It takes time so you have to pay the workers to run the scanners, transport the equipment, and so on. Once the images are scanned they have to be processed using up computing power. The article mentions "But after 9/11, the project won a renewed commitment, increased funding, a speedier timetable and access to government helicopters for overhead photography." If the government is short on money but is funding these projects they think an attack is coming(and they should know, they sure take away enough freedom to spy on terrorists and everyone else). The real question is if the US Government thinks an attack is coming, shouldn't the US Citizens and non US Citizens who come to tour the country?
NO, NO, NO...you've missed the point here entirely. You must blame America first, for all things, because that's what's popular today. After all, it's not like the damned Americans have ever done anything right at all. You act like they cured polio, or invented the transistor, or created the Internet itself. Those things were done by...well, I'm can't think of it right now, but it can't be Americans becuase they're bad people who do everything wrong.
Americans oppress people hideously! And for a good example of a free people, Americans should look at Cuba, the bastion of freedom. Look how happy and peaceful the people are in socialism! And they oppress women. Why can't the U.S. be more like the Taliban? They obviously had this whole womens rights thing worked out...after all, none of the women ever complained about not being able to stay home with their seventeen children! That's nirvana, I tell you!
Of course, they won't listen...none of the damned Americans ever listen. They're too busy producing more technology, more medicines, more wealth through foreign investment, and more durable goods for the rest of the world. They're too busy educating the rest of the world in U.S. universities. They're too busy providing financial aid to just about every country on the face of the planet. See how self-centered Americans are!
Yessiree...the world would certainly be a much better place without these damned Americans, who do nothing right and everything wrong. Somebody should just up and kill all of them with anthrax, and if they can't do that then they should find a few thousand of them in a building somewhere and crash a fully loaded jetliner into it. After all, it's what they deserve for not subscribing to a religious worldview where women are treated as property, Jews are pushed into the sea and exterminated, and all those who don't follow Islam are beheaded.
Yes, let's all blame America for all of our ills. That's much easier than blaming ourselves, since everyone but Americans are nice people who would never hurt a flea...as long as it wasn't an American flea, that is.
The preceeding program was brought to you by my intense sense of sarcasm and my desire to show that, although we Americans have faults, we have done much good in this world and it damn well deserves to be stated as such.
If our monuments are destroyed, we have to build them again exactly as they were before. That's because the key thing about monuments is not what they represent, but their particular physical specifications. By rebuilding exactly as before, we send a message to the terrorists that we keep very good records, and aren't afraid to use them.
I assume that everyone realizes that this has little or nothing to do with terrorism. It's almost certainly simply that the Park Service wanted to produce maps of the damn things (to fix stuff later on, to let people build models with, etc), and couldn't get the funding. The way everyone has been getting funding for the past two years is claiming a terrorist tie-in, so the Park Service went for it.
May we never see th