A Heartfelt Goodbye to a Spirited Mars Rover

[Casino67]

JPL.NASA,gov:



Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas sent this letter to his team shortly after the final command was sent to the Mars rover Sprit, which operated on the surface of Mars for more than six years and made numerous scientific discoveries.

Dear Team,

Last night, just after midnight, the last recovery command was sent to Spirit. It would be an understatement to say that this was a significant moment. Since the last communication from Spirit on March 22, 2010 (Sol 2210), as she entered her fourth Martian winter, nothing has been heard from her. There is a continued silence from the Gusev site on Mars.

We must remember that we are at this point because we did what we said we would do, to wear the rovers out exploring. For Spirit, we have done that, and then some.

Spirit was designed as a 3-month mission with a kilometer of traverse capability. The rover lasted over 6 years and drove over 7.7 kilometers [4.8 miles] and returned over 124,000 images. Importantly, it is not how long the rover lasted, but how much exploration and discovery Spirit has done.

This is a rover that faced continuous challenges and had to fight for every discovery. Nothing came easy for Spirit. When she landed, she had the Sol 18 flash memory anomaly that threatened her survival. Scientifically, Mars threw a curveball. What was to be a site for lakebed sediments at Gusev, turned out to be a plain of volcanic material as far as the rover eye could see. So Spirit dashed across the plains in an attempt to reach the distant Columbia Hills, believed to be more ancient than the plains.

[pollyannaish]

 

Why do I have this sinking feeling that our best space exploration days are behind us?

[Argyle58]

 

Why do I have this sinking feeling that our best space exploration days are behind us?

 

The best days of space exploration are behind our government. NASA has outlived its usefulness and become just another bloated government agency struggling to justify it's existence. JPL is the last vestige of serious study into space.

 

Having said that, the best days of space exploration are ahead. In the U.S., Europe and Japan, the private sector is beginning to make the first steps into exploiting space for commercial use. This is the way that exploration truly gets done.

 

Pioneers are rarely government employees. They are that segment of our population that is always looking for something better. This would have happened eventually, but having NASA bow out of manned exploration only leaves that opportunity for the private sector to do what it excels at.

 

While I hate what the "o" has done to our space program, I think he has accidentally done a good thing.

[clearvision]

Amazing life for what the project was supposed to be.

[pollyannaish]

 

Why do I have this sinking feeling that our best space exploration days are behind us?

 

The best days of space exploration are behind our government. NASA has outlived its usefulness and become just another bloated government agency struggling to justify it's existence. JPL is the last vestige of serious study into space.

 

Having said that, the best days of space exploration are ahead. In the U.S., Europe and Japan, the private sector is beginning to make the first steps into exploiting space for commercial use. This is the way that exploration truly gets done.

 

Pioneers are rarely government employees. They are that segment of our population that is always looking for something better. This would have happened eventually, but having NASA bow out of manned exploration only leaves that opportunity for the private sector to do what it excels at.

 

While I hate what the "o" has done to our space program, I think he has accidentally done a good thing.

 

That's a great perspective. Thanks!