Last week, NASA’s rover Perseverance touched down on Mars after a long, six month journey through space.

                 “After spending billions of dollars on this mission, the dryer sock I lost right after my divorce, was the last thing I expected to see on the surface of Mars,” says Shaun Leonard, director of NASA’s Planetary, Rocketship, and SuperNerds Division.   “Our mission is to find out whether or not life ever existed on Mars.  So far we’ve seen images of dust storms, red rocks, a plasticine George Jetson action figure, and something we believe was once an old Arby’s restaurant.  And a pile of something we have determined to be sandwich meat from that Arby’s, which we believe can now be used as rocket fuel.  We’ve also discovered mineral samples in a dried river basin that, under first examination, suggested that water was once present on the surface of Mars.  But under further evaluation, it was determined that the dried river basin was simply the calcified, bitter tears of millions of Detroit Lions football fans.”

                      The Perseverance Rover is equipped with the latest cutting edge scientific technology, including, X-ray cameras, Air Bags, and an optional Bose sound system.

                “Some parts of the Perseverance rover were assembled with LEGO pieces to help keep the weight and costs down,” says Leonard.  “In addition, the mission was rerouted around the New Jersey Turnpike to avoid addition costs in tolls.”

                    As for the Lost Dryer Sock, Leonard was stunned to see it appearing in images coming from the Perseverance rover into the NASA control room.

                        “I remember that sock well,” he says.  “It started out as a pair of white, mid-calf crew socks.  I remember the last time I wore them.  I was playing Dungeons and Dragons on my day off,  while binge watching the Star Trek Original series, Next Generation, Voyager, Discovery, Enterprise, and the little known spin off, Picard & His Deep Space Nine.”

  “My wife had had enough… of not having enough,” Leonard says.  “So she announced her intention to divorce me.  It was during a scene where Spock finds out his passport has expired.  He was also diagnosed with arthritis in his fingers, putting the Intergalactic Bowling Championship in jeopardy.  Needless to say, I considered her timing extremely insensitive.”

     The Lost dryer sock was last seen running into a crater on Mars called Jezero.  NASA has now lost all visual contact of the sock.