The long, slow road

MVP trophy.

As soon as we were finished processing samples from the lander's last deployment, Andrew announced it was time to take her apart. Six deployments is all we get - we're out of weights - so for us, the cruise is winding down. Lander or not, we're still at sea for the next week, so it's going to be a long, slow road home.

The first thing to come off of the lander was the mast. It's a 10 ft fiberglass pole with a strobe light, a bright orange flag, and a radar reflector (aka Orb of Thor). When I disassembled it and brought the parts inside to ask Andrew what, if anything, he wanted to keep, he pulled out the tattered flag from the pile and handed it to me. "I want you to have this," he said with a smile. It's a reminder of the deployment that I ran solo, and let me tell you, I will hang that shredded piece of orange plastic in my apartment with pride.

We took all of the electronics off of the lander, but the frame itself can't be disassembled until we're transiting back to San Diego. Other groups on board have a few more samples to collect, so the deck is still full of gear. It will disappear little by little as we pack up and prepare to return to land.