Rocket’s Red Glare

R/V Atlantis crewmember Rick Bean watched as WHOI geologist Wenlu Zhu fired an expired emergency flare from the ship during a 2009 cruise (after first warning other ships in the area first to avoid triggering a false emergency, of course). To the current crew of Atlantis and to everyone called away from family and friends by science this holiday weekend, this flare is a gesture of thanks and a beacon home. Happy 4th of July!(Photo by Lance Wills, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)