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Phoenix Mars Lander To Begin Rasping Ice Shavings
Rob writes with an excerpt from an article at spacefellowship.com: "A powered rasp on the back of the robotic arm scoop of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is being tested for the first time on Mars in gathering sample shavings of ice.
The lander has used its arm in recent days to clear away loose soil from a subsurface layer of hard-frozen material and create a large enough area to use the motorized rasp in a trench informally named 'Snow White.'
The Phoenix team prepared commands early Tuesday for beginning a series of tests with the rasp later in the day. Engineers and scientists designed the tests to lead up to, in coming days, delivering a sample of icy soil into one of the lander's laboratory ovens.
'While Phoenix was in development, we added the rasp to the robotic arm design specifically to grind into very hard surface ice,' said Barry Goldstein, Phoenix project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. 'This is the exactly the situation we find we are facing on Mars, so we believe we have the right tool for the job. Honeybee Robotics in New York City did a heroic job of designing and delivering the rasp on a very short schedule.'" I still can't get enough of pictures of a little hunk of metal on Mars.
Not to pick on you specifically, but you're the perfect example of someone whose understanding of hero is by and large accurate, but vague.
Heroes are people (or animals, sentient creatures to be most broad) recognized for putting their lives on the line to do something meaningful for others. Heroes sometimes are rewarded for their actions with only death--not even success necessarily. And yes, there are various degrees of heroism, and to further complicate matters, various degrees of recognition for heroism.
As well, there's a distinction between being heroic, brave, and plain foolhardy, though by no means are the former and latter two attributes mutally exclusive. In particular, heroic acts are done for the benefit of others, often with no or highly disproportionate previously agreed upon compensation. Brave and foolhardy acts, whose distinction lies in whether the actor is competent or otherise, do not have this additonal stipulation.
Any use of hero in a context outside of such a situation not only dilutes the meaning of heroism, but insults the people who are truly heroes. As for why such a dilution happened in the first place, I suspect it has to do with the common aphorism, "You're my hero!" which is indended to mean, "I aspire to be like you." The common use of the phrase, corrupted "hero" to mean anyone who is worthy of anyone's idolatry.
To directly reply, it doesn't really matter whether someone is a professional or an amateur, so long as the intended effect is accomplished. Granted, amateurs are less likely to assist because they know they're more often a liability than of any actual help. But putting on a uniform does not automatically make someone a hero, and vice versa, the lack of formal training doesn't automatically disqualify someone from being a hero or doing something heroic. In fact, I'd argue having a uniform would actually raise the bar for heroism, as most actions considered heroic if done by a passerby would be merely a part of the job for a trained and paid professional. And yes, politicians are the farthest removed from any standard of heroism, as much as anyone else who sits in an armchair and does little else but talk.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
Wow, now even planetary landers have Twitter pages?!
Jeeze, I am so out of touch...
Lies about crimes