The Science Operation Center is a drab brown stucco building stuck, fairly anonymously, in the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood. The Phoenix scientists wanted to brighten the place up a bit, so they requisitioned the help of the University of Arizona art department, which painted this huge mural on the side of the building.

It shows Mars, the Roman god of war, riding his chariot away from Earth. He then morphs into a flaming phoenix, the mythological bird that rose from its ashes. (I guess it’s okay to mix mythological metaphors when you’re making a mural.)

I could recognize many of the images along the borders, but I’m curious how Peter Smith, the silvery-haired PI for Phoenix, feels about being placed next to Marvin the Martian.