Also, to note, the panels on the zero-g probe also spawn with the angles backwards, even if they don't spaz off the little thing right away. I don't know if this is the right place to ask this, but will we get any larger zero-g probes in the future?

Chiming in here - I also experience this issue.
EDIT: solved with new savegame. Oh well.

Maybe a lens cap that can be lowered at the cost of being basically blinded out of that camera? A thought.

I really don't think that should be the case - maybe damage optics if you point it at a camera, but that's it. The laser used for LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) is pretty, well, weak. It isn't the badass pewpew future science gun we all secretly want it to be. The real LIBS/ChemCam system on MSL uses a 1067nm infrared laser that uses tiny pulses, only five nanoseconds each. 50 pulses, the first 5 to clean the target off, and after that to analyze. I do not believe it could actually break anything other than cameras, especially wheels, which are relatively thick. The area it blasts only is a bit over a millimeter deep from the original surface.

Thanks a ton!

This is a non-issue, because it is already implemented. Click on the arrow keys and it will be toggled. However, if you have both arrow panels on the wheels, be warned there's a minor bug that can give you a headache from your rover not stopping. Make sure to only use the left pad or the right pad only. Otherwise it might be triggered and you have to fiddle with both until it'll stop.

Yeah, the Mars 3 sequence was a real nice touch, even if the poor lander IRL failed hard. Very nicely made!

Yeah. It definitely should start on daytime, or at least have a nighttime warning offering to skip a few hours to somewhere around solar noon or to instruct the player to wait N hours if they're on hardcore-real time mode.