A Space Science Group and Locationless Waymarking

[+Iowa Tom]

As of last night I tried to make a group in Waymarking under the “Nature” category. It’s my first so I may not have done everything correctly. It was not an intuitive process for me. It’s called Space Science. I would like to see it used in part for “locationless waymarks” because that’s the only thing that will work for certain educational activities I have in mind.

 

Concerning the locationless concept and Waymarking, I read the following here:

 

Locationless caches could be considered the opposite of a traditional cache. Instead of finding a hidden container, you are given a task to locate a specific object and log its coordinates. A scavenger hunt of sorts, it involves collecting waypoints of various objects around the world.

 

Locationless caches have evolved into Waymarking. Waymark categories are similar to how locationless caches were listed on geocaching.com, but you can now search for the locations in each category.

 

However, what I seem to be reading in the Waymarking forums is the idea that locationless “caches” are not so desirable to many people.

 

My motivation for making the Space Science group was to do several things, two of which I mention here. (1) To encourage people to find and tell others where launch sites and various space agency facilities are and so on. That requires a definite coordinate. But what is more (2) I would like to see people get involved in trying to document transitory phenomena. The whole act of trying to capture an illusive object in the sky for instance, whether it is an aurora or a meteor or a passing satellite on film or pixels introduces a challenge that lends itself to an increase in knowledge and skill for everyone that even so much as attempts it. Waymarking should be not just for fun but for fun education.

 

As an example, I first purchased a GPSr to place myself on the centerline of where the International Space Station (ISS) could be seen to transit the center of the sun (and later the moon). The reason I jumped on the chance was because Don Pettit, who was in orbit at the time, agreed to try to see if he could spot a reflection of sunlight off a large mirror I had below. It was only after that, that I learned to use my GPSr for geocaching. Getting to the right place and pointing a camera at the right spot then knowing enough about a camera to get the shot requires a lot from a person; it encourages one to think in ways that result in self improvement.

 

Of course the location of the spot where I last photographed a lunar transit by the ISS is not important to anyone outside the satellite observing community I belong to but still, the fact that I accomplished the task and recorded valid scientific data made me a more educated and technologically experienced person, something that Waymarking should encourage.

 

Some will say that simply catching the ISS passing anywhere through the sky would not require a coordinate to pinpoint the spot where it was documented but coordinates are a part of the scientific data used in describing that type of activity! So no, it may not attract others to a certain site because a coordinate was listed for a locationless cache but why is that always necessary? Isn’t the act of getting credit by doing something challenging and education sometimes enough? Ask the person who actually got credit for what they did and are proud of. I often look to see how far north a person is who documented a flyby of the station because, few know this, the ISS is never more than a handful of degrees above the horizon as far north as Alaska. I see Waymarking using certain locationless caches to encourage people to try an experiment with such activities as capturing a satellite pass as a potential benefit not only for them but for how this actvity looks to outsiders. How many educators would be against it??

 

I hope that people will be willing to help my officers and me to make a Space Science group work, with some locationless categories. I would use it in my classroom for sure. How many science teachers wouldn’t? (!) Please vote yea here if you are willing to help or at least encourage us in getting this off the ground. Please make Waymarking more multifaceted to better meet the educational community. Thank you!

 

I need to go, school starts tomorrow!

 

Tom, high school science teacher, NE Iowa

[ggmorton]

My motivation for making the Space Science group was to do several things, two of which I mention here. (1) To encourage people to find and tell others where launch sites and various space agency facilities are and so on. That requires a definite coordinate. But what is more (2) I would like to see people get involved in trying to document transitory phenomena. The whole act of trying to capture an illusive object in the sky for instance, whether it is an aurora or a meteor or a passing satellite on film or pixels introduces a challenge that lends itself to an increase in knowledge and skill for everyone that even so much as attempts it. Waymarking should be not just for fun but for fun education.

 

I think you have two distinct types of locations. These two should not be mixed. The first group might be a valid category such as Historic Rocket Launch Sites or Historic Space Locations.

 

I tend to believe that the second group might be more of a game or fun thing to do type of category. I don't think it would be beneficial unless it is more narrow such as Awesome Astronomical Viewing Sites or the like. These would need to be unique and not as mundane as everyones back yard.

 

Just my opinion.

[+8Nuts MotherGoose]

part 1 - Would it also include something like the home or hometown of a famous Rocket Engineer, or an astronaut?

Part 2 - Would a $50.00 digital camera get a good enough picture of the Pleides meteor shower? Many of these streaks seem to be quite dim to the eye.

Take 100 shots and hope one has a bright streak? Brrr, I'd freeze.

Of course there's always the Perseid Shower in August. But it's over. Now I wait for a year.

 

I, too, believe this should be two categories. I sure like both concepts.

 

As a child, I remember watching the Russian Sputnik travel across the sky at night.

[+Iowa Tom]

part 1 - Would it also include something like the home or hometown of a famous Rocket Engineer, or an astronaut?

 

I suppose it could. I discovered on the Net where all the launching facilities around the world are.

 

Part 2 - Would a $50.00 digital camera get a good enough picture of the Pleiades meteor shower? Many of these streaks seem to be quite dim to the eye.

 

I don't know what the cheap cameras are capable of but I could take a guess if I knew the name. One of the challenges would be to find out what it can do. If that isn't enough for the task then I suppose the person would have to get creative and ask someone else with a descent camera for help. A teacher may have access to local area education agency digital cameras that can take exposures that are at least several seconds long. When I was 12 I crawled up on the roof at night and set up my mom’s old box camera in an attempt to photograph star streaks.

 

Take 100 shots and hope one has a bright streak? Brrr, I'd freeze.

Of course there's always the Perseid Shower in August. But it's over. Now I wait for a year.

 

The meteor shower is an advanced challenge for anyone. It could be an advanced waymark. But challenge is the name of the game. Besides that, not getting a picture could be a learning experience in itself. I’ve been there and done that. E.g., I’ve discovered that I can bring things into view using a photo enhancing program that I didn't even know was in the picture.

 

Thanks for the input.

[Neos2]

My motivation for making the Space Science group was to do several things, two of which I mention here. (1) To encourage people to find and tell others where launch sites and various space agency facilities are and so on. That requires a definite coordinate. But what is more (2) I would like to see people get involved in trying to document transitory phenomena. The whole act of trying to capture an illusive object in the sky for instance, whether it is an aurora or a meteor or a passing satellite on film or pixels introduces a challenge that lends itself to an increase in knowledge and skill for everyone that even so much as attempts it. Waymarking should be not just for fun but for fun education.

 

I think you have two distinct types of locations. These two should not be mixed. The first group might be a valid category such as Historic Rocket Launch Sites or Historic Space Locations.

 

I tend to believe that the second group might be more of a game or fun thing to do type of category. I don't think it would be beneficial unless it is more narrow such as Awesome Astronomical Viewing Sites or the like. These would need to be unique and not as mundane as everyones back yard.

 

Just my opinion.

I understand what you are saying, but I think the abstract nature of documenting a sighting of some transitory phenomena is calls for a different view of the value of location. Some of these events are all about location, location, location!

 

First, "someone's back yard" is not very likely to be the spot to view one of these events (although if yours is such a spot, please do invited me over some evening!). Most sightings take careful planning, and a search for the right location. Often that involves coordinating the celestial path of the object with the ground path it will track over and trying to locate a spot to view the event that is 1) dark enough and 2) has safe public access. Certainly a great lesson in geo-navigation to a location.

 

Not all celestial events are viewable from every location. Think about the difference a few degrees can make in being able to see a total eclipse. There are people hwo pay thousands of dollars to travel the world to spots where total eclipse is predicted to occur. Total eclipses of the sun are much more likely near the equator, and less likely as you move further north and south.

 

Many celestial events do repeat over the same general area often enough to create a spot to which someone could return--perhaps months later, but repeatedly none-the-less. Even for those events that don't appear again in exactly the same spot will still likely occur in an area "near enough" to there that a waymarker who had become interested in the event could learn how to make that kind of sighting near a waymarked location. For instance, there are iridium flares that occur over trajectories near my home with some frequency. One month, the best spot to view may be two miles west of my home and the next month it may be 20 miles east of home, but once I have learned how to see them and photograph them, I can show others who might be interested. And if you can't get out that night because the baby has an earache, at least you could view my photo. You may live in an area where they would never occur.

 

Some events don't occur often over a certain spot, but when they do, it is very newsworthy. Aurora are most common in the north and my friends in MI and WI see them much more often than I do. However, I have seen them here in southern Indiana before, and they do occur every once in a great while as far south as Georgia. Again, these events are somewhat predictable, and people try to photograph the event as it occurs. It would definitely add to our scientific data to have hundreds of people recording exactly which location an aurora event could be seen from on a particular date.

 

Can you see scientific discovery as an appealing reason to create a category that would accept these more transitory waymarks? I think Iowa Tom has a couple of caches that illustrate these ideas better than I have explained them. See South Pole Iridium Flares for example.

Edited August 26, 2006 by Neos2

[+silverquill]

As of last night I tried to make a group in Waymarking under the “Nature” category. It’s my first so I may not have done everything correctly. It was not an intuitive process for me. It’s called Space Science. I would like to see it used in part for “locationless waymarks” because that’s the only thing that will work for certain educational activities I have in mind.

 

This thread should really be in the Recruitment and Category Proposals forum.

[+Iowa Tom]

As of last night I tried to make a group in Waymarking under the “Nature” category. It’s my first so I may not have done everything correctly. It was not an intuitive process for me. It’s called Space Science. I would like to see it used in part for “locationless waymarks” because that’s the only thing that will work for certain educational activities I have in mind.

 

This thread should really be in the Recruitment and Category Proposals forum.

You are absolutely correct! Oops.

[+Team Maddie UK]

Good luck in this Iowa Tom. I just noticed that the old International Space Station virtual was hyjacked and archived. This really annoyed me intensely but it's really good to see that someone else is already considering a much more versatile approach.

 

Martin,

Team Maddie UK

[+chstress53]

That cache was not hijacked it was was miscategorized as a virtual when, in fact, it is a locationless cache. and locationless caches were all archived and are now here in the form of What we call Categories. IT would be a welcome addition to this game. My advice is to break this up into several Categoories and create a group to manage them before someone else jumps on the band wagon and beats you too it.