I'll even accept the pale pinkitude of the sky (don't like the green skies that have been popping up in some of the self-processed images, don't like them at all!)

Those springs sure had some people fooled! Ha ha, "beer cans." Ha!

The "hint of orange" on the surface below the heatshield appears for all the world to be soil material dug into and kicked up as the device slammed down. While the b-bs are bluish, the "white stuff" appears to have a certain Mars-orangeness to it. And perhaps when first exposed after long and peaceful burial, it "glows" as it were, in that ultraviolet laden sunlight. Which may have something to do with the extreme orange glow in some of the other images.

As for overprotection, well... better too much than too little, the saying goes, and for a reason. If either of these landers had been lost due to -- say -- burning up in the atmosphere, there would have been more than hell to pay, don't you think?

What science was lost because of such a heavy layer of protection?