I hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday — in whatever sense you celebrate this time of year. We took the day off yesterday to enjoy the fruits of the season and be with friends. I did keep an eye on the news to see if the folks in London had heard from the Beagle 2 lander at Mars, and although the news is not good, it appears they’re still hopeful that a signal will be picked up in the next few days. For their sake I hope so. A few years ago I was at JPL for the Mars Polar Lander mission and when that one failed to “phone home” it was a very disappointing experience. You could feel the scientists’ pain at the loss of all their hard work and their hopes for a successful science mission. Mars is turning out to be a difficult target for a variety of reasons, but the things we learn are worth the risks. Still… it’s a sad day when a mission doesn’t work out. So, I have good wishes for the science and engineering teams and hope it comes through for them.