Blog #7: JPL -Sophie Ungless

The majority of our time during this visit to JPL consisted of working with the A-Team to go over the Tree of Life project, which we were introduced to during our first visit last month. The last time we learned about it, I left feeling really confused about exactly what the project was and how it has relevance, so being able to inquire more on this trip was helpful. That being said, though, I am still having a hard time wrapping my head around what the goal of the mission is. It's clear that they were inspired by how we can eventually create a mission that has the ability to arrive at Proxima B, and the drive behind the Tree of Life is this idea of time and longevity. However, the team still doesn't seem clear about how the information they gain from this project can be applied to a future mission involving Proxima B. Or if they do know, they aren't effectively articulating it to the general public, which I believe is going to be vital for keeping interest in the 200 year project. In the moment, I was frustrated with some of the team's inability to answer our questions, but now I can look at it as our class presenting them with ideas that just haven't been considered before.




After the A-Team meeting, we were able to visit the Ops Lab, which was my favorite part of the day. In the lab, we got to use the HoloLenses to see two different demonstrations. One gave us the ability to look inside the construction of the Mars 2020 rover, and the other allowed us to see as if we were actually on Mars. The HoloLens would project highly detailed images captured by Curiosity that are stitched together to give a 360º view of Mars.





The concept of VR has always blown my mind, so being able to "walk on Mars" and see the planet in as if I were actually there was the most insane thing I have ever done. It honestly made me feel pretty emotional, and I've found it hard to articulate exactly why. At first, I was just blown away by the technology that would allow us to have that experience, and I had to continuously remind myself that I was looking at actual pictures and not just digital renderings. Once I was able to get over that, I was just shocked by the planet's beauty. It was just an expansive red desert, and the desert has been an environment that has recently been a place for me to feel refreshed and recharged. I also had to keep reminding myself that I was looking at another planet, and I think that is what left the most impact on me. Sometimes I find it so hard to visualize things outside of the world that we directly experience, so being literally taken out of Earth and put onto Mars really made me think about our place in the greater universe.