Science in the Making

Abstract

In the years leading up to the launch, three separate scientific teams had been preparing for the flood of data which would be beamed to Earth once the satellite was in orbit. An almost interminable three-year long binary string of ones and zeros would be transmitted from space as the satellite turned slowly across the sky. The data stream would be cleverly labeled to signify all the pieces of the jigsaw that would need to be reassembled on the ground.

Creative minds never get much of a mention. It’s warlords, politicians and other confidence tricksters who get talked about all the time, not people with creative minds.

WillemFrederik Hermans, in ‘Beyond Sleep’ (1966)