“It was a privilege to see the toughness and heart of the (Paradise) community"

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) – Many watched around the nation as the Mars rover Perseverance landed on the rocky, red surface of our neighbor, the planet Mars last Thursday around 1:00 pm PST.

Unbeknownst to many, the Perseverance, NASA’s largest, most advanced rover, carried with it an incredibly special homage to the town of Paradise. Onboard the car-sized rover destined for the Jezero Crater, the words “Paradise Strong” and “Town of Paradise, California” along with the names of the 85 souls lost to the 2018 Camp Fire were etched on two small chips embedded on the Rovers specimen retrieval arm.

A former NASA employee, Jerry Stoces, who influenced the inclusion of the town of Paradise on this mission, says he and others at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) were inspired by the sheer strength of Paradise and the perseverance to rebuild. In an interview with KRCR, Stoces says, “The NASA Team was very touched by how many lives were affected by this fire…. We felt terrible for the lives lost and wanted to do something special.”

As a representative of NASA, Stoces visited Paradise in early 2020 to speak with the town and students about the mission to Mars set to depart that July and what the residents could expect. Students allegedly watched from their classrooms as the Perseverance set down on Mars, carrying its solemn cargo. As yet another tribute to Paradise, the Paradise Strong emblem was posted in Mission Control as the rover touched down and conducted its business on the red planet.

“You try to take these things we do, these great reaches into space and other planets and try to make it real, and have it be a touchstone for lifting spirits,” says Stoces. “You try to have them be something other than a piece of scientific hardware, you hope it’s something that will help you look beyond the horizon and have a bit of hope, not only a remembrance for those souls that were lost but have a bit of that grit and strength of the community rebounding riding with us too.” He continues, “It was a privilege to see the toughness and heart of the (Paradise) community we’re so proud to have them fly with us and be part of space history forever that will be on Mars for all time.”