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P.W. Davis (Jet Propulsion Laborartory)
The presentation of planetary science on the World Wide Web is spotty at best. For example, a student searching Google to find the current number of known moons orbiting Jupiter would get answers ranging from 16 to 28 to 63 (the correct number as of Aug. 2004). Information on NASA-sponsored sites is often hard to find and out of date. NASA's websites are primarily mission-focused despite a general demand for information about the planets and solar systems in our galaxy (solar system is among the top 20 search terms on the NASA Portal: http://www.nasa.gov).
With new discoveries coming at a rapid pace, the Internet seems the obvious place to present the latest information. Budget constraints prevent textbook publishers from printing new editions and, for the same reason, most public school systems can't supply students with updated textbooks.
In an effort to present a more accurate and up-to-date account of the state of planetary science, the NASA Solar System Exploration Website (http://solarsystem.nasa.gov) is seeking motivated scientists to "adopt" sections of the site to help maintain the content. Volunteers will help the site editor keep tabs on the latest research and discoveries, ensure the accuracy of planetary numbers and also answer questions from an inquisitive public. Interested scientists from all disciplines can sign up at http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/adopt.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to http://solarsystem.nasa.gov. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: phillips.w.davis@jpl.nasa.gov
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #4
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.