Mountain Views News, Combined Edition Saturday, January 11, 2020

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, January 11, 2020 

Media Gets 
Close-Up 
2020 Rover

A Postcard Perfect Rose Parade

Cirque du Soleil’s VOLTA 
Opening January 18

 
Members of the media 
walked the clean-room floor 
at NASA’s Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory in Pasadena, 
California, on Dec. 27 to 
glimpse the agency’s Mars 
2020 rover and speak with 
experts working on the 
mission. It was the media’s 
only opportunity to see the 
rover from inside the clean 
room prior to its shipment to 
Cape Canaveral in February.

 “It was a great opportunity 
for the media not only to see 
our work close up, but to meet 
some of the women and men 
who have dedicated several 
years of their careers ensuring 
this next Mars rover lives up 
to the legacy of those that 
were built here before it,” said 
David Gruel, the Mars 2020 
assembly, test and launch 
operations manager at JPL.

 The clean room, also known 
as the Spacecraft Assembly 
Facility’s High Bay 1, is where 
all four of NASA’s Mars 
rovers were constructed: 
the microwave-oven-sized 
Sojourner, which landed in 
1997; the golf-cart-sized Mars 
Exploration Rovers Spirit and 
Opportunity, which landed 
in 2004; and Curiosity rover, 
about the size of a Mini 
Cooper, which has been 
exploring the Red Planet’s 
Mount Sharp region since 
2012.

 Scheduled to launch in July 
or August 2020, the Mars 
2020 rover will land in Jezero 
Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. There 
it will search for signs of past 
microbial life, characterize 
Mars’ climate and geology, 
collect samples for future 
return to Earth and pave the 
way for human exploration of 
the Red Planet.

 Both to ensure that as few 
Earthly microbes as possible 
hitch a ride to Mars and to 
keep out particles that could 
interfere with the rover’s 
operations, High Bay 1 
comes with strict cleanliness 
standards: Anyone entering 
the clean room, whether a 
technician or a journalist, 
must wear a “bunny suit,” 
booties, a hair cover, a face 
mask and latex gloves. 
Because notepads and writing 
implements could shed dust 
and other particles, specially-
approved paper and pens 
were provided to visiting 
media members on request. 

 In the coming weeks, 
engineers and technicians 
will pack the 2020 rover into a 
specially-designed container. 
After it arrives at the Cape, 
Mars 2020 will undergo final 
processing and testing before 
launch.

 JPL built and will manage 
operations of the Mars 2020 
rover for NASA. NASA’s 
Launch Services Program, 
based at the agency’s Kennedy 
Space Center in Florida, 
is responsible for launch 
management.

 Mars 2020 is part of a 
larger program that includes 
missions to the Moon as a 
way to prepare for human 
exploration of the Red Planet. 
Charged with returning 
astronauts to the Moon by 
2024, NASA will establish a 
sustained human presence 
on and around the Moon by 
2028 through NASA’s Artemis 
lunar exploration plans.

 


 Cirque du Soleil returns 
to Los Angeles and Orange 
County with VOLTA, 
a captivating voyage of 
discovery! Inspired in part 
by the adventurous spirit 
that fuels the culture of street 
sports, VOLTA explores 
the themes of celebrating 
differences and unique 
qualities in a world where 
technology often isolates 
people from one another 
rather than freeing them. 

 Written and directed by 
Bastien Alexandre, with 
Jean Guibert as the director 
of creation, VOLTA weaves 
acrobatics in a visually 
striking world driven by 
a stirring melodic score, 
composed by Anthony 
Gonzalez from the 
international electronic 
group M83. VOLTA will 
perform under the Big Top 
at Dodger Stadium in Los 
Angeles January 18—March 
8, 2020 and at the OC Fair 
and Event Center in Costa 
Mesa March 18--April 19, 
2020. 

 Energetic, urban and 
contemporary, VOLTA 
is a captivating voyage of 
discovery that showcases 
never-before-seen under 
the Big Top acrobatics in 
a visually striking world. 
Driven by a stirring melodic 
score and inspired in part 
by the adventurous spirit 
that fuels the culture of 
street sports, VOLTA is a 
story of transformation. It is 
about being true to oneself, 
fulfilling one’s true potential, 
and recognizing one’s own 
power to make it possible. 
Ultimate freedom comes 
with self-acceptance, and 
with the liberation of the 
judgement of others.

 The name VOLTA refers 
to a sudden about-face, a 
change in emotion or idea 
often used in poetry. It also 
speaks to the jolt of energy 
delivered through the show.

 The creators of VOLTA 
drew inspiration from the 
spirit of adventure that 
pervades the world of BMX, 
street sports and acrobatics. 
Whether they are on a bike, 
hopping from rooftop to 
rooftop, or double dutch 
rope skipping, urban sports 
enthusiasts constantly 
challenge themselves and 
defy convention.

 Sure to be a California crowd 
pleaser, VOLTA features 
a full-blown BMX park 
mounted on stage in front of 
the audience’s very eyes for 
the breathtaking BMX finale 
as riders invade the stage to 
deliver a jaw-dropping, fast 
and furious performance 
of nonstop acrobatics on 
wheels. The riders go up the 
jump boxes and perform air 
tricks before landing and 
leaping off the ramps again, 
crisscrossing and spinning 
their bikes in midair in a 
spirit of brotherhood.

 The stunning costumes of 
VOLTA have been designed 
by Zaldy Goco, famous for 
his work with Lady Gaga, 
Michael Jackson, Britney 
Spears, Gwen Stefany and 
for TV show RuPaul’s Drag 
Race.

 Tickets are now on sale 
by visiting cirquedusoleil.
com/volta or calling 
1-877-9CIRQUE (1-
877-924-7783). Discover 
our Hennessy Black VIP 
Experience package, which 
includes a cocktail reception 
with open bar and hors 
d’oeuvres inspired by the 
show, access to the best 
seats for greater comfort, 
complimentary parking and 
more.

 VOLTA is Cirque du Soleil’s 
41st original production 
since 1984, and its 18th show 
presented under the Big Top. 
The company has brought 
wonder and delight to more 
than 190 million spectators 
in more than 450 cities on 
six continents. Cirque du 
Soleil Entertainment Group 
has close to 4,000 employees, 
including 1,400 performing 
artists from close to 60 
different countries.

 For more information 
about Cirque du Soleil, visit: 
cirquedusoleil.com.

 Pictured: VOLTA Swiss Ring 
Photo by Matt Beard


Water and 
Power 
Fraud Alert

 
Pasadena Water and Power 
has received reports of 
fraudulent callers attempting 
to scam customers into 
making payments through an 
automated phone system.

Common Scams

 Phone calls, home visits and 
online solicitations promoting 
government utility assistance 
programs and that ask for 
social security or banking 
information

Phone calls or home visits from 
someone posing as a PWP 
representative who demands 
payment and threatens to turn 
off water or electric service.

Unscheduled home visits from 
scammers posing as PWP 
meter readers/inspectors or 
posing as contractors offering 
home energy audit services.

 PWP does not notify 
customers of their account 
status by phone. Customers 
with delinquent accounts will 
receive a “Final Notice” and 
“Disconnect Notice” from 
PWP by U.S. Mail notifying 
them of their account status. 
Delinquent payments must be 
made in person at, online or by 
phone at 626.744.4005.

 PWP employees will always 
wear a visible picture ID, 
with an employee number, 
and have their supervisor’s 
phone number on hand. If 
you suspect fraud, contact our 
Customer Service directly at 
626.744.4005.

 Nature smiled down on 
Pasadena New Year’s Day as 
the 131st annual Rose Parade 
made its way down Colorado 
Blvd. with no major mishaps. 
Only one float, The UPS float 
“Stories Change Our World” 
had mechanical issues and was 
towed the entire 5.5 mile route. 
The UPS float, (pictured middle 
bottom), won the Sweepstakes 
award for the most beautiful 
entry. 

 Rose Queen Camille Kennedy 
and other Royal Court 
members ( pictured middle 
right) waved to the hundreds 
of thousands of spectators that 
lined Colorado Blvd. 

 Mayor of Pasadena Terry 
Tornek, Vice Mayor Tyron 
Hampton and their families 
(pictured top left) rode in an 
Eight-horse hitch of rare black 
and white colored Clydesdales 
pulling a handcrafted replica of 
an 1880 Abbott Downing Hotel 
Coach. 

 Women’s Suffrage Float 
(pictured top right) launched 
the 100th Anniversary 
Commemoration of the Passage 
of the 19th Amendment, 
securing for women, their right 
to vote. The float featured a 30-
foot Statue of Liberty, dressed 
in a suffrage sash. Riders on 
the float included –those in 
direct line to Elizabeth Cady 
Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, 
Ida B. Wells, and Frederick 
Douglass. Dozens of out 
walkers (pictured middle left) 
in white with suffrage sashes 
held signs “Votes for Women”

 The Valley Hunt Club (pictured 
bottom right) is most known 
for starting the Tournament 
of Roses Parade in 1890. They 
have been in the parade ever 
since.

 Los Angeles Unified School 
District All District High 
School Honor Marching Band 
(pictured bottom left) has been 
involved with the Tournament 
of Roses Parade for over 40 
years.

 Spirit of the West Riders 
(pictured bottom) represent the 
wide variety of ethnic groups 
in the American West of the 
1840s-1920s.

Photos by D. Lee/MVNews


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