The Rock

It's a rock.
A rock on Mars.
A rock on Mars named Mackinac Island...

Did you know there is a rover currently exploring the surface of Mars? I didn't. The Mars Exploration Rover, named Opportunity or “Oppy” for short, is currently traveling from one crater to another. One of the scientists on the project has started a blog to track the rover’s progress. (Check it out here.) As Oppy finds meteorites and rocks on its travels, they are being named after islands. (Go check out the blog and you'll see why.) Which islands you ask? Well so far there’s Block Island, Marquette Island, Shelter Island and Mackinac Island. Apparently it all depends who is working when a rock is discovered as to what it will be named. Mackinac was suggested by James Ashley (the Payload Downlink Lead and Payload Uplink Lead for the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer and a Mineralogy / Geochemistry Science Theme Group Lead for mission planning sessions) from Arizona State University. Yeah, I’m not exactly sure what he does either, but it sounds quite impressive. He’s a Michigan boy and says he loves to visit the island when he makes it home.

photos via

Pretty cool huh, to have a rock on Mars named after your hometown. Especially when you know that quite a few of us who live on Mackinac Island affectionately refer to it as "The Rock."

I know, I know, right now all of my friends are giggling and remembering how I earned the nickname "The Nerd Magnet" all those years ago. It was bad enough that my dad, yes my own father, had a Nerd Magnet name tag made for me. I wear it with pride, though I don't think my husband appreciates it very much...