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Space science

NASA bids are not a popularity contest

Nature volume 489, page 33 (2012)Cite this article

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You recently conducted an online popularity poll of three proposals competing for selection as the next NASA Discovery Program mission (Nature http://doi.org/h79; 2012). In my view, the concept and execution of this poll demeans Nature and belittles what is at stake.

Worse, there are indications that the poll could have been manipulated. Voting for one particular mission occurred in a large burst on a single day. It is immaterial whether this was caused by the mission teams enlisting many supporters to vote quickly, or by people who worked out an easy way to vote multiple times. The point is that the results are not meaningful.

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  1. University Park, Maryland, USA

    Michael F. A'Hearn

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  1. Michael F. A'Hearn
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Correspondence to Michael F. A'Hearn.

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M.F.A. is a participant in one of the three mission concepts that were in the online poll.

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A'Hearn, M. NASA bids are not a popularity contest. Nature 489, 33 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/489033a

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