Re: Is ProDOS supported in OSX?

[pausch@saaf.se (Paul Schlyter)]

In article <DqgRa.10859$kI5.3977@nwrddc02.gnilink.net>,
M. Pender <mpender@hotmail.com> wrote:
 
> Paul Schlyter <pausch@saaf.se> wrote in message
> news:bd90a5$22t5$1@merope.saaf.se...
> ...snip...
>> Also: the "enormous amounts" of data on these tapes were enormous
>> back then -- but compared to today's media it wasn't that enormous....
> 
> Actually, they *are* still enormous in terms of the space required to
> store the data,
 
True -- but replacing half-a-dozen 9-track tapes (or hundreds of
5-track tapes) with one CD disk means an enormous saving in the
amount of physical spaces needed for the storage.
 
> the labor involved in handling that many tapes to make copies,
> and the effort required to destroy or dispose of old (probably
> classified) media.
 
NASA data doesn't appear to be particularly classified.  NASA even
offers raw data from these older spaceprobes for sale to anyone who
wants to buy it !!!!!  You can for instance buy a set of 30 or so
CD-ROM's containing all the raw images from the two Voyager
spacecrafts.
 
> The labor involved is what makes it an enormous amount of work.
 
:-) ...that labor is a quite SMALL amount of work compared to the
labor of constructing those space probes, sending them out into
space, and tracking them while out in space and collecting the data.
Plus doing science on that data.  Consider for instance the two
Voyager space probes: it took hundreds (if not thousands) of men
YEARS of work to carry out the Voyager project.  Now, how long
would it take to copy perhaps a few hundred magnetic tapes onto
30 CD-ROM's ?  My guess is that 2 or 3 people would do it in
a week or so.  Now, which labor is most "enormous"?
 
It would be just plain stupid of NASA to carry out large space
projects if they also weren't willing to preserve the data from
these projects, including moving it into newer media whenever
necessary to guarantee that the data isn't lost.
 
-- 
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