Sierra Grace, Mars Rock

Mars RocksSierra Grace visited the JPL Open House with Grandpa Steve and Grandma Anne on Sunday. When she got home I asked what was her favorite thing? My 6-year-old answered, “Playing a Mars rock.”

At the Open House, people could watch 700-pound robots glide under artificial stars in JPL’s Robodome, learn how spacecraft are prepared for their journeys in special clean rooms, and get an up-close view of full-scale models of Mars rovers. Nobody got closer than Sierra!

Sierra and other kids were invited to lay on the floor and pretend to be Mars rocks while a model rover drove over their backs showing how well the real ones handle the uneven terrain — no matter how ticklish the rocks may be.

[Thanks to Grandpa Steve for the photo!]