Doug Ellison
@dougellison.bsky.social
Dad, Husband, Mars Rover Crew Chief. Opinions and views expressed are my own. Not a NASA account. Contains strong language. He/Him. www.dougellison.com
I attempted to put upper and lower bounds on what it would cost to repurpose Perseverance's testbed twin and send it to the Moon. It's not the cheap and fast mission people hope it is. www.planetary.org/articles/the...
The Cost of a PROMISE
NASA may send an engineering test of the Perseverance rover to the Moon, but at what price?
planetary.org
"On July 25, an initial onsite inspection by the NASA Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex (MDSCC) emergency response team found wildfire damage primarily to pavement and surrounding vegetation, with no significant structural damage observed to antennas or buildings. "
Extreme heat and subsequent wildfires are the clearest indication that our climate is changing. I pledge to continue to advocate for increased monitoring and understanding of our planet.
This appears to be DSS-55 at the south end of MDSCC, one of the 34 BWG antennas. ( comparing ground features to www.google.com/maps/@40.423... ) I just hope everyone got out safe. Stuff can be rebuilt. People can't.
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Andy Scollick@andyscollick.bsky.social · 2w agoThe Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex at Robledo de Chavela municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain on fire. Burgohondo wildfire. 📷 via Infues Avila
Things you'll find in MSL uplink Three lava lamps, a rover pinata still decorated for Christmas....with a plushy capybara on it. Several 3D printed fidget toys. An emotional support plush tiger from our tiger team room. A rubber stamp that says "From the desk of ECAM". And SO many memes.
Michelle Rapp@kilnfiendpotter.bsky.social · 3w agoEssay by the NASA scientist who brought Sailor Moon merch to the Artemis II launch. My shoujo loving, magical girl adoring, nerdy ass heart is so full. reactormag.com/why-sailor-m...
I don't for one second think the comments are going to change the direction OMB wants to take. I also don't think I could live with myself if I didn't say something. Making science a victim of political whim will destroy science and damage the US economy in the process.
Katie Mack@astrokatie.com · 3w agoThere is still time to submit your comment and tell the government that you don't want US research to be completely destroyed by politicians meddling in individual grants. You can submit your comments here: www.regulations.gov/commenton/OM...
The very best “what the f*}k?…..how on Ares beige planet did this happen?” I’ve seen since we started roving. Literally ran over a white pebble and it was essentially pure sulfur.
Cat O'Connell-Cooper@mars-cat.bsky.social · 4w ago"A native sulfur deposit in Gale crater, Mars", Science, in press, doi: 10.1126/science.adu5501 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
This "Promise" pitch/floater will be a good test for the space press who primarily focus on human spaceflight. Talk to planetary scientists. Where's that RTG gonna come from (and take away from)? How in the world do they think it would actually be flight operable?
I was stood on the banking outside the old hairpin at Donington Park in 1993 and saw Senna start the greatest lap in racing history. My view was like this screenshot. The weather sucked so much I think i still have trench foot youtu.be/pktF3wJKfxo?...
The 984@the984.bsky.social · 2mo agoWho is the best athlete relative to their sport you saw play live? I'm gonna say Mia Hamm at the 1996 Olympics.
All the cool kids are doing it, so I couldn't help myself....using solarsystem.nasa.gov/psyche_image... and a its G and B compatriots, a departing view of Mars from Psyche. Data from NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Last week was one of those weeks where you go "Oh f*#$....." and then "Oh hell yeah...." because you're a small part of an incredible team that is as smart as it is creative as it is dedicated when it comes to solving problems, finding solutions and being generally amazing.
Riding With Robots@ridingrobots.bsky.social · 3mo agoFrom NASA: Got something weighing you down? Shake it off (like Curiosity)! The Martian explorer unintentionally picked up a rock while drilling a recent sample, but the team was able to dislodge it by having the rover move its robotic arm and vibrate the drill until the rock fell off. 1/2
I took all the JSC Artemis pics, split them by camera type, zipped it up and put it on Archive.org. Once it’s clear that’s all of them I’ll do a version 2 with UTC acquisition time into the file names so they’re easier to browse in time order. In the meantime, enjoy. archive.org/details/arte...
artemis_2_image_dump_2026_05_03 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Camera sorted archive of all Artemis 2 images available via https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/ShowQueryResults-TextTable.pl?results=1777835956132601 on...
archive.org
Don't miss my new op-ed on how space science is getting demoted to hitchhiker status at NASA: spacenews.com/put-science-...
Put science back in the driver’s seat
Put science back in the driver’s seat
spacenews.com
The FY 2027 budget request for NASA is an insult to the four astronauts currently risking their lives to explore the Moon. The world should be celebrating humanity's return to deep space, as well as the space agency and partners that put them there. [1/2]
Kudos to our project scientist who helps advocate for these every ~year when I think the view might work and we've got a little bit of energy and time spare in a plan. Doing the science on the day to day is important. Taking a moment now and again to do something just for art is important as well.
Riding With Robots@ridingrobots.bsky.social · 7mo agoFrom NASA – Swiftly flow the days: As we approach the end of one year and the beginning of another on Earth, the Curiosity rover paused to send a postcard from Mars. The image combines one panorama taken after sunrise and another taken before sunset. images.nasa.gov/details/PIA2...
On Monday I braced for this most recent round of JPL layoffs by looking around my office for what I cared about most to take it home in case I never got to return. I grabbed just one thing - the beautiful bowl by @amyraehill.bsky.social inspired by the false color postcard I took with Curiosity.
If you, like me, are the parent of a neuro-atypical child dreading this autism press conference, please remember: These are the people hurting our kids. Not us. They are the ones stigmatizing and pathologizing them. They are the ones peddling untested science. And we should be very, very angry.
Winter is giving way to Spring in Gale Crater. The atmosphere is waking up from its chilly quiescent slumber.
Landru79@landru79.bsky.social · 11mo ago#NASA's #Mars rover #Curiosity Sol 4662 2025-09-17: Right Navigation Camera mars.nasa.gov/raw_images/1... Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/j. Roger
Ruin a book by adding Tom Clancy's to the title Tom Clancy's Roving Mars
Andy Rivkin@asrivkin.bsky.social · 11mo agoRuin a book by adding Tom Clancy's to the title Tom Clancy's Emma
We are outraged and deeply distressed that armed federal agents came onto our campus—making arrests on the very ground where, in 1942, Japanese American families were forced to board buses bound for concentration camps. It was a deliberate act of provocation and intimidation.
Last times I was in DC was for a Good Night Oppy thing. Walked past a charity run on my way to NASM to visit a dusty old friend, and then a spectacular array of kites being flown on the mall walking to the film festival later in the day. Post your last photo of DC to show what a hell-hole it is.
Dr. Jessie Christiansen@aussiastronomer.bsky.social · 12mo agoSo glad the children and I got out of DC alive last week! Post your last photo of DC to show what a hell-hole it is.
The engineering side of our mission rarely gets told....but we're pushing to turn every heckin' joule of that RTG into pure distilled awesomeness. Thanks to @abbyfrae.bsky.social for the postcard idea. I had a LOT of fun sequencing and then processing it :) www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/marking...
Someone claiming to be a scientist but proposing something as objectively idiotic as sending Juno to an interstellar object is not a scientist. Any high school kid could google how impossible and stupid the idea is. Stop treating Loeb like a scientist. He’s a lazy attention seeking crank.
