Here's What Mars Looks Like Now to a Tiny Cubesat Chasing NASA's InSight Lander

Here's What Mars Looks Like Now to a Tiny Cubesat Chasing NASA's InSight Lander

PASADENA, Calif. — A tiny cubesat cruising through interplanetary space has captured a new glimpse of Mars, just before watching NASA's InSight lander  touch down the Red Planet.

The cubesat, one of two Mars Cube One probes (called MarCO for short) snapped the Mars photo on Saturday (Nov. 24). That's two days before the InSight probe is due to land on the plains of Elysium Planitia Monday (Nov. 26) to study the interior of Mars.

Today's bear pic

For NASA's InSight Mars Lander, All Systems Are Go for Monday Touchdown

For NASA's InSight Mars Lander, All Systems Are Go for Monday Touchdown

This is the first probe focused on gathering data on the interior of Mars and looking for evidence of seismic activity. It's also the first Mars mission and first mission outside of Earth orbit using tiny cube satellites. These are two satellites the size of a suitcase that will transmit data from Insight back to Earth.

Not Letting Mr. Robinson Win

I like to paint. It's a hobby I picked up about five years ago after my wife convinced me to join her in an art class. People tell my I've become good at it. I'm not saying this brag. In fact, I find that hard to believe. There are a lot of people who can't handle negative criticism well. I'm the opposite.

A few weeks ago, I finished a painting in class. My teacher, Nick, loved it. He liked it so much he showed to other members of the class. Every one of my classmates said they liked it. Now a person with a normal functioning brain would probably few proud at this attention. They would feel encouraged and inspired by this kind of positive feedback.

I felt embarrassed.

Again, I'm not engaging in false modesty. I'm my worst critic when it comes to my paintings and my writing. When I look at them, all I see are the things I could have done better. It's even more painful when it comes to art where I still think of myself as the goof who can't even draw decent stick figures. No matter what others say about my artwork, there's a voice in the back of my head that sounds just like my seventh grade art teacher, Mr. Robinson. This is a mindset that I've been struggling with for decades.

He was the kind of teacher who never had anything good to say to anyone and cared more about how well we scrubbed our tables at the end of the period than our artwork. Anything I tried to do was met with snarky derision and not a single bit of constructive feedback. I don't know if he was just burned out from teacher or he was just an unpleasant person who lived to tear others down, but he tore me down. One year in Mr. Robinson's class and I went from being an elementary school student who loved art class to a junior high student who hated it. Mr. Robinson convince me that I had no ability to do art and that I should stay away from even trying. From seventh grade all the way through college, I avoided art classes as much as possible.

Fast forward decades later, now painting is a passion that I take even more seriously than my wife does, even though she has loved all of the arts her entire life.

 I'm sure everyone has at least one Mr. Robinson in their past. Maybe your Mr. Robinson pushed you away from art or music. Or maybe he told you couldn't ever be good at math or science. Or whatever it was.

Don't listen to your Mr. Robinson. If you have a passion for something, pursue it. Even if it's just a hobby and not something you can make a living at, feed your passion. Mr. Robinson lives to discourage you from enjoying life. Don't let your Mr. Robinson win.

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