Two things immediately strike me:
1. The rock needs a name.
We name all sorts of “notable rocks” during missions like this, and this rock is definitely notable. My immediate suggestion is something to do with “Friend” or “Companion”. I’m sure there’s a clever name other than just calling it “Companion rock”
2. Channeling my inner child … Can we keep it?
Can we get the mission planners to commit to, to the best of their abilities, avoid planning manoeuvres that would cause the rock to likely get dislodged from its home in the wheel and get left behind. It feels like a small ask to further “humanise” the mission. Next selfie shot to ensure we keep the new friend in frame, and to just be able to tell people, “We didn’t indent to adopt this pet rock. But once it was with us we couldn’t just abandon it.” It might seem silly and unscientific but it’s “human” and just like carrying Tombaugh’s ashes on new horizons, or a tiny metal Lego figure of Juno on the Juno spacecraft sent to Jupiter… doing these little “human” things when we venture into the unforgiving environments of space and other plants, just feels somehow fundamentally right and good.
