NASA Had Me Going For A Second

The Phoenix Mars Mission has been the topic of great discussion in our house the last few days. We watched while engineers waited to hear if the lander made it in one piece. We watched the first pictures come in. The kids are in awe of America's space program. I remember that feeling well.

Imagine my surprise when someone in the house asked me, "Does that say what I think it says?"

At first I didn't see anything. When I looked again, I'm sure my jaw hit the floor. I knew it couldn't be what I thought it was at first glance.

On our big screen tv, it's clear what the nameplate says, on our small tv in the other room, not so much. But yes, it does bear the name of Dr. Fuk Li.

Dr. Fuk K. Li has been Mars Exploration Program manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, since March 2005. The program includes NASA missions active at Mars and in development. Previously, Li was deputy manager of Mars exploration. From 2001 to 2004, Li was the Deputy Director of the Solar System Exploration Directorate, and from 1997 to 2001, he managed NASA's New Millennium Program, which develops and tests new technologies in space flight for use in later science missions.

It's amazing how much kids pick up on these days. Needless to say, we will be watching NASA TV on the big screen from now on, just in case. When will they start planning the first luxury vacations to Mars?

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