The Phoenix Lander, Boulders, and You

So, as we all know by now, its hard to land Mars landers in a boulder field, not just hard, but also bad, expensive, and risky. We have also learned about the whole shoot (pictures) first, and land later approach as the landers orbit Mars. However, what you may not have heard about is the incredible oppritunities the JPL is granting college students in the new and exciting field of Rock Counting! To find a suitable sit for the Phoenix lander, they have gained the help of UW student Tabatha Heet, who's job is to look at pictures of Mars taken from HiRISE, and count boulders. I can't decide whether this would be the coolest job ever, or so tedious and eye-exhausting that my eyeballs would dry up and fall out of my head.