SpecialSetOfSieves

Just making a thread for anyone who wants to commiserate about the lack of new images from Percy of late. Mods, feel free to delete if this doesn't belong here.

We shouldn't ever forget that many many JPL employees have lost their homes, which is more than just a "bummer". They might be launching their stuff into space, but the work of people at the lab is appreciated and its absence is felt in people's daily lives too.

The fires that spread destruction across the Los Angeles region this week and killed at least 11 people have spared two famed scientific facilities: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which has spearheaded planetary missions and astronomy efforts, and the historic Mount Wilson Observatory. While the Eaton blaze that has destroyed nearly 14,000 acres and 7000 buildings in Altadena and Pasadena stayed an appreciable distance away from JPL, flames from that fire continued to climb towards Mount Wilson until eventually stopping at the edge of the observatory’s grounds on 9 January.

“Thanks to the efforts of our firefighters and observatory staff, no buildings or infrastructure have been destroyed” at these facilities, said Anthony Marrone, the LA county fire chief, in a press briefing this afternoon. Still, JPL director Laura Leshin said on X that more than 150 of her staff have lost their homes to fire. And some Mount Wilson employee have evacuated and don’t know when they can return. “For us, the story is about our employees, and not about the facility” says Veronica McGregor, a spokesperson for JPL.

In preparation for the Eaton fire, one of six scattered across Los Angeles, JPL moved operations of its Deep Space Network, an international network that commands and communicates with space-based missions, to a back-up operations center and instructed all employees to work from home.

The fires that spread destruction across the Los Angeles region this week and killed at least 11 people have spared two famed scientific facilities: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which has spearheaded planetary missions and astronomy efforts, and the historic Mount Wilson Observatory. While the Eaton blaze that has destroyed nearly 14,000 acres and 7000 buildings in Altadena and Pasadena stayed an appreciable distance away from JPL, flames from that fire continued to climb towards Mount Wilson until eventually stopping at the edge of the observatory’s grounds on 9 January.

“Thanks to the efforts of our firefighters and observatory staff, no buildings or infrastructure have been destroyed” at these facilities, said Anthony Marrone, the LA county fire chief, in a press briefing this afternoon. Still, JPL director Laura Leshin said on X that more than 150 of her staff have lost their homes to fire. And some Mount Wilson employee have evacuated and don’t know when they can return. “For us, the story is about our employees, and not about the facility” says Veronica McGregor, a spokesperson for JPL.

In preparation for the Eaton fire, one of six scattered across Los Angeles, JPL moved operations of its Deep Space Network, an international network that commands and communicates with space-based missions, to a back-up operations center and instructed all employees to work from home.

Original MastCam-Z image

Now serving:

• some hefty, rounded-off dark chunks, enough to embarrass even the most hardcore chocolate-chip lover
• a small helping of greasy, streaky, shinier light-toned bits interspersed, for flavor
• all set into that classic cream-colored background we've come to know and love, and available in a nice, flat boulder-sized outcrop, probably within reach of the rover's instrument arm.

After a long hike, this is the perfect spot for a picnic.

We are actually there. Nili Planum. The outer edge of Syrtis Major, that dark "peninsula" one sees even through backyard telescopes, a big part of all those studies that people like Percival Lowell or Schiaparelli did, when the dreamer types were still looking for vegetation and canals. We've never known anything like this on Mars, even after decades of rovers exploring the planet.

It might be nice if we could actually see it!

We are now weeks into the springtime, but this muddy winter gloom just goes on and on and on. And there is so much to see here!

Don't try to tell me that there isn't at least one skier, boarder or sledder among the rover drivers.

Bonus points for the white powder they made with the abrasion tool (left of center, where the tracks meet the rocks). Pico Turquino may not be good enough for certain geologists, but some people know how to have fun on powder that no one has carved in 3 billion years.

This episode would be a good one for introducing all those non-Martians in your life to Percy's journey, with the combination of sweeping visuals and the callback to Ingenuity's fledgling flights. Especially if you want to spend more time in the tropics.

... because the overhangs, and all the holes among these many boulders, would make me nervous if I was roving the slopes of this giant crater rim. We know that Percy is a very determined astro-droid, but there are too many places for tech scavengers to hide around here. Although I guess they would have to be pretty small jawas...

Link to full Mastcam-Z frame

All of the above vignettes were cropped from Front Hazcam images taken on Sol 1308, at about 1 PM local time.

Given that the sun was roughly behind the camera and rover when these images were captured, the complex, light-toned surfaces of these rocks stands out, with glinting reflective patches evident, especially toward the top of the hill. I'd be intrigued to view these rocks in the late afternoon, when shadows are longer and the dusty skies of late winter aren't layering that soft sheen over everything. Given the aggressive driving schedule that the rover team has adopted for climbing the Jezero rim, though, I'm not sure that Percy will stop here for very long...

This shot was taken by the arm-mounted WATSON camera at 10:46 PM local time, illuminated by the LED (see also shots lit from the left and right, for perspective). The boulder Percy is analyzing (see here for a daylight view) isn't as reflective as some near the rover, but then again, this part of the Jezero rim seems to have more than enough funky rock coatings for anyone!

I can't find any evidence that the triangular-prismatic rock at the top centre of this image even existed before Sol 1292 (apparently visible on the left hump on the horizon in this image)... are the Martians watching us???

(To be clear, I am joking here. I just think it's really neat to see how many of these cobble and boulder-studded slopes on the Jezero rim produce these angular and seemingly resistant forms. Martian hills and mountains are pretty rounded in general - I'd hardly expect to find the Matterhorn in these ancient landscapes - but erosion has a way of surprising you in this place...