On January 1, 2003 the new Musk Mars Desert Observatory at the MDRS achieved First Light. The initial image taken was the Great Nebula in Orion, a nursery for the birth of young stars. Crew astronomers Pete Detterline and Debi Lee Wilkenson labeled it “New stars for a new year.” The following night, the crew was able to take higher resolution photographs, including this one (right) of M51, the Whirlpool Galaxy before the clouds rolled in. The color wheel will be hooked in shortly.