Everybody has a back story, even JMPy
It was a wild ride...crazier than any previous launch. Fueled by curiosity and a desire to push boundaries, we sent eight astronauts into space to see if humans could succeed in one of the most challenging, high-pressure and inhospitable work environments possible: Mars. They were the best and the brightest the Earth had to offer, equipped with tools for DOE, quality, data visualization and more.
On the fourth planet from the sun, the team explored their new environment, simultaneously inundated with data and bombarded by asteroids. Decisions were made on the fly and under pressure. Black Belts, they learned, were no protection from the pull of black holes. Here all data was multidimensional and no experiment was textbook. But the biggest challenge came from 55 million kilometers away.
Out of the blue, just two weeks into the adventure, Commander Sol pulled the plug on the mission. An immediate withdrawal was planned. There was no explanation, but we knew he knew something we didn’t.
The trip back to Earth could be hazardous under any circumstances. Under these hurried, hushed conditions, the risk was tripled. So little time to prepare...so little understanding of what was at stake. Nor did we understand what the world was about to gain. Not right away, in any case.
It was Mission Specialist Nicole Sparks who noticed the stowaway hiding in one of the bulky space suits designed to withstand the Mars atmosphere. Visor down, suit bagging, this stowaway was hidden well. But a tiny, almost undetectable movement caught Nicole’s eye. Could this suit contain a lifeform from Mars? Indeed it could.
But not just any life form. It contained a human-sized rodent with big eyes and bigger teeth. Was it a gopher? A vole? A woodchuck? Of course not. It was a Martian that looked like a cross between a groundhog and a squirrel.
JMPy was one of the first employees to receive a Covid vaccine.JMPy was one of the first employees to receive a Covid vaccine.Was this the cause for the abrupt end to the mission? Did Commander Sol seek out the Martian creature because of his fascination with groundhogs? Was the whole mission an undercover operation to bring a Space Squirrel to Earth?
Or is JMPy Space Squirrel no more than a Halloween mask inside the space suit that Jeff Perkinson wore at the Georgia Tech Aerospace Systems Design Lab for the launch of JMP 8 many years ago?
You decide which story works for you. And we’ll continue to enjoy the company of JMPy Space Squirrel as the company’s unofficial mascot -- no matter how he came to be.
This or that...
- Mountain vacation OVER seaside holiday (trees are essential)
- Neither cats nor dogs (both tend to make me nervous)
- Coffee OVER tea (hazelnut flavor preferred)
- JSL OVER Graph Builder (I'm smarter than I look)
- Picnic OVER restaurant (Duh)
- Moon pie OVER cake (Reminds me of home)
- Morning OVER late night (Early squirrel gets the worm)
- Ambivert or introvert OVER extrovert (I play opossum when I get around too many people)
- Silly OVER serious (again, duh)
- Low-tech OVER high-tech (that's pretty obvious too)
Addendum –
In researching the 2008 launch records, we now understand how JMP Space Squirrel went undetected for the first portion of the return trip. JMPy was approximately the weight and size of Dr. Julian “Bobo” Peabody, the world-famous chimp who was a part of the JMP Biodome Project. It was widely known that Commander Sol had little patience for the simian, and might very well have been happy to leave Bobo on Mars. Another mystery for JMP to solve: Did Commander Sol swap the annoying ape for the Mars rodent, and is Bobo still awaiting rescue 14 years later?
I love that JMPy was one of the first employees to get a Covid vaccine! A true leader 
