Months ago, while we were still waiting for more data from Ellie about her discovery of Jeff the Quadrapus, other members of Mission Control and myself scribbled out our ideas of what we thought he looked like based on the first fuzzy photos.
There’s only been a few web comics I used to read with any regularity, but since Ellie on Planet X has gone live I’m discovering new ones (to me) all the time. Here’s a handful that I think are the cream of the crop. Some have been around for a long time, some are new, some well known, others not so much, and a couple are even newspaper strips! There’s more, but I’ll save those for another day. Give these a check-out and maybe they’ll become your favorites too.
Just a note that not all are family friendly!
The Strang Institute didn’t escape today’s snowfall that hit the Midwest U.S. (somebody — not saying who — forgot to turn on the Anti-Climate Electro-Bubble). Everyone was pretty crabby when they showed up for work and the Institute garden, where we usually eat lunch, wasn’t the balmy seventy-six degrees it normally is. I thought it looked nice, but then I didn’t have to shovel.
Here’s a view from the side entrance. It’s normally green all year round on this side of the fence.
This is Bijou, the Institute mascot, braving the weather. The sun peeked out for a bit and the two of us had a romp in the snow.
Here are a few pics I took in one of the hallways of the lower levels here at Strang Institute Mission Control. Check out that interesting control panel. I don’t think it’s been used in fifteen years at least. Somebody drew Ellie on the wall too!
It was seven years ago last Tuesday that the Mars rover Opportunity landed on the red planet and it’s still going strong. Along with its twin, Spirit, the two were only meant to last for three months and have far exceeded what anyone thought possible (Spirit, unfortunately, hasn’t been heard from in almost a year). Opportunity now sits at the rim of the crater Santa Maria, 26.7 kilometers (16 and a half miles) from its starting point. We here at the Strang Institute Mission Control can only hope Ellie lasts that long!
Here’s a panoramic pic from Opportunity at the edge of the crater via The Astronomy Picture of the Day!
Congratulations Opportunity and everyone at JPL!
