But what a concept … our vast Pacific is “only” about two to three miles deep on average … the idea of a lake the size of the Western US that was five miles deep at its deepest point, is just mind boggling!

Also find myself humming “Ripple on still water, where there is no pebble tossed, nor wind to blow ….” Fun to play fried fiddle. And I was never even a deadhead ….! Thanks for the inspiring optimistic reading, Robert.

A.Nonymous: I can posit two reasons Hellas is not SpaceX’s first choice. First, it doesn’t have as obviously smooth a choice of landing sites. Lots of roughness. Second, and more important, the evidence of easily available water is not there. There might be water evidence, but this is unclear or unproven. Arcadia Planitia meanwhile definitely has lots of evidence of water, so much so that many scientists had already picked it as an ideal first human landing site.