iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

What was your first computer growing up?

Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

All I planned was a Sol 5000 morning postcard......credit to Kevin for adding the PM poscard on 5003 and doing the processing on this one.

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Reposted by Doug Ellison

Thomas Appéré @thomasappere.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Nous célébrons aujourd'hui le 5000e jour martien passé par le rover Curiosity dans le cratère Gale 🥳 Voici une mosaïque d'images acquises par sa caméra de navigation au sol 5000.

Mosaïque en noir et blanc d'un paysage martien photographié par le rover Curiosity au sol 5000. Le paysage est vallonné, le sol recouvert de sable et le ciel poussiéreux.
© NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Thomas Appéré

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

That's four covers of Science magazine for this incredible team. And we're not done yet.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, at its Rocknest sample-collection site, Gale crater, Mars, on 31 October 2012. This is a mosaic of 59 images acquired by the Mars Hand Lens Imager, a camera mounted at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm (both partly not visible during imaging and cropped out during processing). Four scoop troughs are shown; a fifth was created after the mosaic was obtained. The width of each rover wheel is 40 cm

This fist-sized rock on the surface of Mars has been cracked open by the weight of the Curiosity rover driving over it, revealing a yellowish interior of crystalline sulfur. The rock is part of a deposit of native sulfur, which has been preserved for three billion years. It is interpreted to have been formed by the eruption and solidification of a subsurface sulfur-rich vapor.

Eroded landscape of Yellowknife Bay, Gale crater on Mars. Sheepbed mudstone is seen in the foreground, ~4 meters distant from the Curiosity rover camera that took the photo; Gillespie sandstone is in the middle field. The foothills of Mt. Sharp (upper left), ~20 kilometers distant, are Curiosity's ultimate destination. Exploration of this region by the Curiosity rover offers evidence of an ancient, potentially habitable environment.

This photograph of Gale crater, Mars, was taken by the Curiosity rover at the Ubajara drill site. The rover’s 40-cm-wide tracks are visible in the foreground. The rover drilled a rock sample at this location, which was found to contain substantial amounts of siderite, an iron carbonate mineral. The siderite likely played a role in an ancient carbon cycle that affected Mars’ surface climate.

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Chase Million @millionconcepts.com · 19/08/2026

Jared's hobby rocket does not have much support among planetary scientists. Nobody asked for it. NEP was barely more than a footnote in the Decadal. Also, nobody asked for Skyfall. It appears to exist only to give the NEP demo something charismatic to carry. It won't do meaningful science.

“What keeps me awake at night is, in three years’ time, will we have a space nuclear program?” asked Bhavya Lal, former NASA associate administrator for technology, policy and strategy and the co-author of a 2025 study that looked at the long, troubled history of space nuclear programs.

Space nuclear programs enjoy strong support today, she said, “but this support is positional, not structural. It is attached to people and not to paper. So, what happens in January 2029?”

That is an issue for SR-1, which she said is a program without a clear customer. It is carrying a technology demonstration payload, a set of Mars helicopters called SkyFall, but she noted those could fly on a different mission. The LR-1 lunar reactor program is also not directly dependent on SR-1. “The only thing that truly needs SR-1 is SR-2, SR-3 and SR-4, and those don’t exist.”

Members of the MEPAG community,
There have been deeply concerning developments in the NASA MEP budget and proposed federal R&A
funding policy in the last several weeks that many of you may not be aware of and have arguably worse
consequences than last year’s budget threat. If there was ever a time to take action in support of the Mars
Exploration Program and federally-funded scientific research, now is that time.
MEP status: The Mars Exploration Program has been directed to absorb and manage the Skyfall payload
on the Space Reactor-1 (SR-1) demonstration mission within its budget. This will largely be under the
Mars Future Missions line, effectively eliminating any new developments/missions until after SR-1/Sky-
fall launches. It is also anticipated that the costs for Skyfall will exceed the available funding in that line
($110M), which means that without a budget augmentation in FY27, the chances are quite high that more
than one currently operating mission at Mars will be terminated and their funds redirected to supporting
Skyfall.

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Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

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...

planetary.org

The Cost of a PROMISE

NASA may send an engineering test of the Perseverance rover to the Moon, but at what price?

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

"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. "

Bethany Stevens

@NASASpox
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.

Additional inspections and testing will continue as safety procedures allow. The situation remains dynamic, and comprehensive assessments will proceed as conditions stabilize and access improves.

Meanwhile, NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program has seamlessly transitioned mission support to its other Deep Space Communications Complexes in Goldstone, California and Canberra, Australia, ensuring continuity of operations and uninterrupted spacecraft communications.

The safety of NASA personnel remains the agency's highest priority. All personnel at MDSCC are safe, and NASA extends its sincere gratitude to Spanish emergency responders and members of The Ministry of Defense, The Ministry of Interior, and The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for their professionalism and tireless efforts in helping protect the facility under extremely challenging conditions.

NASA is also thinking of its partners at the European Space Agency (ESA), whose colleagues continue to be affected by the broader wildfire emergency.

NASA will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates as new information becomes available.

A picture of burned dry grass around a fence underneath what appears to be a large satellite ground station.

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Josef Aschbacher @josefaschbacher.esa.int · 25/07/2026

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.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

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.

google.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

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.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

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.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

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.

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Paul Voosen @voosen.me · 30/06/2026

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?

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

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?...

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

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

Mars captured against the absolute black of deep space. The planet is shown in a three-quarter illuminated view, with its characteristic rusty red-orange hue dominating the disc. There is a bright white patch near the lower-left of the planet's face.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

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.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

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...

archive.org

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...

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Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Don't miss my new op-ed on how space science is getting demoted to hitchhiker status at NASA: spacenews.com/put-science-...

spacenews.com

Put science back in the driver’s seat

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Casey Dreier @caseydreier.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

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]

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

The whiplash of seeing these on the same morning.

A photograph of the whole earth. It is mainly blue with white clouds, beige land masses and tinged with green auroras at the top and bottom

Program Cuts and Eliminations
• Science (-$3.4 billion).

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

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.

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V Martín @sharponlooker.net · 11/12/2025

"No Science Without Them" Stylussketched on tablet with #SketchbookApp #ArtAdventCalendar

Rough coloured sketch of a Martian rover control room,with engineers intently staring at multiple monitors.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

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.

A circular bowl decorated with a landscape scene. The inner surface of the bowl is painted to resemble a landscape with mountains. The top portion is a bright, clear blue sky transitioning into a warm yellow-gold sun. The lower portion depicts dark, rugged terrain. The bowl is sitting on a dark surface with a pattern of bright, colorful, geometric dots and lines.

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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

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.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

Winter is giving way to Spring in Gale Crater. The atmosphere is waking up from its chilly quiescent slumber.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

Ruin a book by adding Tom Clancy's to the title Tom Clancy's Roving Mars

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Japanese American National Museum @jamuseum.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

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.

Photo of armed customs and border patrol agents and cars on the plaza in front of the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

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.

Looking down the grass of the national mall to the large pointed spire of the Washington Monument. Hundreds of families are stood on the grass flying kites in the air. Kites of all colors are flying all the way as far as you can see.

The testbed rover for the mars exploration rover mission. The rover is about 5 feet tall, has six wheels, lots of cables, its robotic arm is stuck out like it's fishing. The camera mast at the top has cameras pointed at the ground infront of it. The large solar panels are covered in dust. A large printed mars panorama of dark rocks on a beige/orange landscape is behind it.

A view down a long road leading to the dome of the US Capitol building The road is closed and runners in blue shirts are coming down one side of the road towards the camera

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 10/08/2025

Don’t threaten me with a good time.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

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...

A black and white mosaic of images from Mars. A distant hazy horizon is punctuated by a white mount and various layered hills and butted. At the bottom is the rear of the Curiosity Mars rover - a gray cylindrical antenna is next to a white finned RTG.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

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.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

Are we fast? No. Are we consistent? Also no. Do we have alt.barney.dinosaur.die.die.die on the rear wing? You’re god damn right.

A purple sports car with a yellow stripe down the middle on a race track . The car is driving toward you.

A purple sports car with a yellow stripe down the middle on a race track . The car is driving toward you around a tight corner.

A purple sports car with a yellow stripe down the middle on a race track . The car is driving toward you over the brow of a hill.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

This....so much this. I don't want AI search summaries that just lie to me. I don't want co-pilot looking at my machine or Gemini reading my docs. Get the hell out of here with your content stealing, lie regurgitating torment nexus BS.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

At lunch in a small cafe in the Cotswolds in 2016, I waited until after we left before telling my wife that she had been sat back to back with someone at the next table who I was briefly at school with about 24 years earlier. It was Zara Tindall - the late Queen's granddaughter

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

In the dining room of Minchinhampton Golf Club in the late 1990s, 3 time Formula One World Champion Sir Jackie Stewart asked me where the bathrooms were.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Playing Cards Against Humanity on the floor of @planetarykeri.bsky.social's apartment with @jerilryan.bsky.social . You think you're good at Cards Against Humanity.....I PROMISE you.....Jeri is better. Much..MUCH better.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

Hosting a tour at JPL for Damon Lindelof - I went to hit play on a 3D movie about Earth Science "The production values aren't quite as good as Lost, but at least the plot makes sense" I warned him. He laughed.....put on his 3D glasses....and muttered "That's fair". He enjoyed the movie.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

In a line for a visa at the US Embassy in London in early 2010 I was behind then BBC News Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell. In front of us was Jeremy Irons. "They don't make you go through this for every movie do they?" I said. "every....single.....time" he replied.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

At the 50th Anniversary party for 'The Sky at Night' at Sir Patrick's house I turned to the person behind me to joke that the line for dinner was going slowly and that maybe we joined the wrong end of the wrong line. It was Terry Pratchett. "Wouldn't that make this the right place?" he replied.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

My first time visiting Mojave Air and Space Port - I parked my rental car quite badly outside the Voyager Restaurant. Aviation legend Dick Rutan was walking to his car and said "You parking that thing or abandoning it?"

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

"And I'm getting really sick of guys named Todd....."

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

Interviewer: Can you explain this gap in your resume? Mars Rover Ops Team: Sorry - the rover was in runout due to an unexpected outage at the DSN antenna.

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

This is the time used by MSL and M2020 ( i.e. NRB_799975504EDR_F1152616NCAM00551M_ / FLF_1497_0799847065_176ECM_N0730000FHAZ00219_01_295J01 ) Time to party like it's 8 o'sclk

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Doug Ellison @dougellison.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

Just don't look at the back - that's where I hid all the aliens.

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