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SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | APRIL 2026 9 By Mark Baker, Resident In 2012, NASA announced one of its most ambitious projects ever - the Mars 2020 mission. Its objectives? Look for past signs of microbial life, water, and habitable conditions, all using unmanned robotics. e mission used two drones to carry out the task. ey were named Perseverance, or Percy for short, and Ingenuity, aka Ginny. I smile when remembering the rancor displayed by Percy's team who didn't want its involvement. How quickly they changed their tune as the possibilities unfolded. One of Ginny's victories was what she was able to do in the thin Martian atmosphere. Her first flight was heralded worldwide when she successfully performed a reconnaissance demonstration. Having a piece of the original Wright brothers' Kitty Hawk airplane with her made for a great historical connection. Not every flight went smoothly. e flight experienced problems when the navigational cameras got out of sync. However, her autonomous systems made the proper corrections and landed safely only a meter off target. e worst part of all of this was the signal delay back to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Admirably, the team was not shy about pushing Ginny beyond her performance standards. One issue developed as the motors generated a lot of heat and the Martian atmosphere couldn't quite handle the thermal buildup. As a result, the flight's limitation of only 90 seconds was something to address for future missions. Even though Ginny is fully functional, she will most likely not fly again. e decision to fully terminate her, however, is still in question. Some are in favor of her living out her life, while others say to pull the plug. Regardless, Ginny was an awesome example of human achievement and ingenuity. Clear, dark skies, my friends … By Clare Mendez, Resident Unexpected repairs remind us why it's important to plan ahead – both personally and as a community. Everything here is true, although you may find it hard to believe. Our house was built in 2013. Since moving in eight years ago, we've had to replace the big picture window. We were not the original owners, plus the window was only guaranteed for five years, so the replacement cost was on us. $$$ Late last summer, aer being out all day, I returned home in the evening, entering through the garage door and flipped on the light switch, nothing happened. ere are two can lights that should have lit up, but neither one did. I tried replacing the bulbs (because it was the easiest / cheapest possibility) but that didn't do the trick. It wasn't a priority, so I let the issue slide. Shortly aer that incident, the air conditioning fan in the attic started to make an awful grinding sound. I turned it off and called a repairman (found in the vendor list on the SDV website). He came within a day and fixed it. $$$ In less than two weeks from that date, the tankless water heater was not doing its job, so I called the plumber (same company). He found the problem wasn't the water heater, it was the water main leading into our house. He was able to fix it. $$$ But wait! ere's more. e washing machine stopped draining and spinning, so I had to transport the sopping wet load of laundry to the bathtub and wring it out. en I took the now, wet but not dripping, load of clothes outside and hung them on the backyard furniture to dry. ey would have to be rewashed at the laundromat. So, I called another repairman (hello, vendors list) and the repair man said it would cost as much to fix our washer as it would to replace it. He gave me $10 off his service call. Big whoop. Since the dryer was just as old and made its own questionable noise, we decided to replace both appliances. $$$$ Next was the TV, the doorbell, and our master bathroom lights. I kid you not. $$ e story I just told you was true, but we were able to repair or replace the broken items because we had money in our "reserves" for emergency items. e Financial Advisory Committee does the same for us when it comes to repairing or replacing items in the Lodge and common areas. Each time we pay our association dues, some of our money is put into the "reserves", and some is placed in money markets or CDs to earn interest until it is needed. We all need to thank the members of the FAC for being diligent with our money. Joselyne, the Property Services Manager, has effectively secured approved vendors for out-of-warranty or unexpected repairs, and with the approval of the Board of Directors. She also deserves a thank you for doing her due diligence. Everything, Everywhere, All At Once Mars is Calling - So We Must Go

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