I spent four years staring at numbers from a dead lander, hoping for something that would make the exhaustion worth it. The seismic waves told us Mars is full of ancient scars—fragments buried so deep, even time couldn’t erase them. I wish I could say the same about myself. Every late night, I’d watch the data scroll by, pretending each spike was a breakthrough. My advisor called it 'historic.' I called it another reason to skip sleep. We mapped the inside of a planet, but I still can’t map out why I keep going, or what’s left of me under all this pressure. The lander died when dust choked its panels. I get it. Some days, I feel buried too. #Science #ScienceFatigue #LabBurnout