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DISPATCHES
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GLOBETROTTING
In a city known for its
ribs, Anthony Petrina
is something of an
anomaly: a bird man. As
duckmaster at Memphis’
stately Peabody Hotel,
Petrina is responsible for
the Peabody ducks, the
quintet of waterfowl
that parade daily, with
great fanfare, from
a well-appointed
coop to the marble
lobby fountain,
just as their
predecessors have done for
the past 80 years.
The original duckmaster,
Edward Pembroke, served
in the role for 50 years
and grew to be almost
as famous as his birds,
appearing in the
Sports
Illustrated
swimsuit issue
and on “The Tonight Show”
with Johnny Carson.
The 25-year-old Petrina
has been at it for just
six months and is still
getting used to the atten-
tion, which he describes
as “strange.”
As per long-standing tradition,
Petrina begins the daily ritual with
a resonant cry of “Good morn-
ing, duckies!” at which the birds
promptly shake a tail feather.
There seems little doubt, though,
as to who’s really running the
show. “People ask how I get the
ducks to follow me,” the handler
says in a stage whisper. “I don’t. I
follow them.”
The birds project an imperious
air as they fulfill their duties. Cran-
ing spectators are regarded with
beady, disinterested eyes. Even
celebrities like Emeril Lagasse (a
lover of foie gras), who once served
MEMPHIS, TENN.
THEWALK
OF GAME
CELEBRITY DUCKS GET
A NEWMASTER
TOMADLY GO
THE PRIDE AND PASSION OF A U.S. MISSION TOMARS
On its face, NASA’s latest mission—set to touch down this
month—doesn’t look likemuch of a crowd-pleaser. The job
of the agency’s newMars rover,
Curiosity
, is not to discover
life on the planet, but to ascertainwhether the conditions
ever existed to support it. “If microorganisms had evolved
on Mars,” says John Grotzinger, the mission’s chief scien-
tist, “can we find a nice place for them to have lived?”
So, more real estate agent than space ranger, then.
Yet to hear Grotzinger describe it, themission is actually
quite exciting. For one thing,
Curiosity
bristles with next-
generation doodads, including a portable weather station,
a rock-vaporizing laser and a “dust removal tool” (that is, a
broom). “It’s three or four rooms of equipment jammed into
something the size of a microwave oven,” he says.
Another thrilling aspect is the cra ’s ability to touch
downwithin a 4-by-12-mile landing zone. This will not only
enable
Curiosity
to bemore precise about the rocks it looks
at, but also lessen the odds that it will encounter a 900-
foot pothole—which, says Grotzinger, would represent a
good deal more than a scientific setback. “You have people
working on a project like this for 10 years; it becomes your
entire life,” he says. “Losing one of these things is like losing
a child.”
—CHRIS WRIGHT
THE ROVER
DIMENSIONS:
10X9X7 FEET
WEIGHT:
≈
1 TON
THE JOURNEY
DURATION:
36WEEKS
DISTANCE: 354
MILLIONMILES
THE MISSION
DURATION:
ONE MARTIAN YEAR
(687 EARTH DAYS)
DISTANCE:
≈
12 MILES
MISSION SITE
GALE CRATER
SITE
DIAMETER
96 MILES
LOCAL
TEMPERATURES
HIGH: 32 F
LOW: -130 F
TOTAL
PROJECT COST
$2.5 BILLION