Bowling Ball Drop I flew over the "approved" bowling ball drop zone today and am happy to report the designated area is very big and devoid of obstacles. It will be hard to miss. There's still a lot of snow out there and the ground that has no snow on it looks pretty muddy so chances are this is not going to happen for a few weeks, at least. After landing I spoke with a guy at the FAA who assured me they only needed to get involved "if something goes wrong." And then after getting home I called the land owner and reconfirmed we have permission (actually she said she really wants to see it happen). "Thingy" On Mars I just spoke with my contact at NASA. She had not heard of the object but said that she'd passed my query on to someone who works with the imaging team. More on that when I hear more. Patrick