Morpheus Lander: Cool Stuff That JSC PAO Won't Let You See

Keith’s 19 April update: According to a NASA Watch reader at JSC“They are broadcasting the Morpheus hot fire events live internally at JSC in HD – so I would assume they could broadcast them externally if they wanted to.” So in other words all JSC PAO has to do is throw a switch and the rest of us can see this. But they won’t. What are they afraid of? ABove is a screen grab taken by someone at JSC moments ago (click to enlarge). Yet anyone living in one of those houses across the field could webcast this, I suppose.
Keith’s 20 April update: YouTube videos are now online for the 14 April firing and the 19 April firing. NASA JSC PAO had nothing to do with this. Project Morpheus staff did this. Indeed, JSC PAO has yet to make any statement or issue any material showing the results of these tests. Curiously, the same camera that recorded these videos could have easily been used to webcast the test live. The people who live across the field from the test site could see everything from their living room windows. Why can’t the rest of us? All JSC PAO has to do is to want to make this happen. I am not sure if this inaction on JSC PAO’s part is due to laziness or incompetence.

Keith’s note: The Morpheus Lander team is getting ready for another test firing. But there won’t be any live streaming video. And PAO has said nothing. Apparently PAO approved web streaming it late yesterday (that sure took a long time). But according to the team’s Twitter they cannot do a live stream using a laptop because “Due to distance required for safety of personnel and equipment a laptop would not be sufficient.”
Oh, c’mon guys. Ever wonder how all those wonderful shuttle launch images have been taken over the past 30 years? No one is standing there with the cameras. Its all automatic. They risk the cameras for the benefit of getting the images. In this case, you could go to JSC surplus, get an old laptop with a webcam (or find one), invest in a 3G/4G modem, aim the laptop, start the webcast, and then walk to the safety perimeter. You are willing to risk all of this money and time on the lander, how about risking a few hundred bucks such that the rest of us taxpayers can watch the cool stuff we pay you to do?
No imagination. I did this stuff every day at 17,500 feet from Everest Base Camp two years ago with the constant threat of huge avalanches a few hundred feet away. This is easy by comparison.
You can follow events after they have happened at Facebook and Twitter – but not at JSC PAO – they are ignoring things again.
– Morpheus Hot Fire A Success: JSC PAO Is Incompetent
– Why Does JSC Hide Their Cool Stuff?, earlier post