Exercise - Consider additional data to include

  • 3 minutes

The choices we made in this module were simplistic at best. Although a rocket didn't launch the day before or after the SpaceX Dragon launch on May 30, 2020, it doesn't mean that a rocket launch would have been pushed because of weather on those days. So putting N in the Launched column for those dates is inaccurate.

These modules guide you through practical steps used to solve the problems faced during space exploration. But you're also meant to discover your own path. The ultimate goal is to inspire you to create, ideate, and push limits to what we understand and the knowledge we collectively hold about our world and beyond.

Here are some ways to continue your learning and data journey:

  • Explore the data further: Look up articles and reports on each launch. Were there considerations made about weather before launch? Were there weather conditions around these dates that might have been worrisome?
  • Explore the missing weather data: What about the dates that NASA didn't choose to launch rockets? Beyond individual days, were there seasons that NASA avoided? What kind of weather profile do those seasons tend to have?
  • Explore the missing launch data: Can you find data on launches that were pushed because of weather? Is there data about launches in other countries/regions that you can incorporate?
  • Explore other data manipulations: Could we have used better values to fill in missing data?
  • Decide what data you would want: If you had access to NASA's subject matter experts and data sources, what do you think would be most important to making a launch or push decision? If you could ask an expert something, what would it be?
  • Evaluate similar problems: Are there similar problems that you can use to help fill in this data? For example, are airplane delays because of weather in the area also an indicator?

Being a data scientist isn't about having a complete data set and applying an algorithm to it. It's about starting from a place that's messy and likely wrong and learning in an iterative fashion. By the end of the learning path, you'll have learned something about rocket launches. With that new knowledge, you can come back to this module and make better-informed decisions.