Welcome to Incredible Blogger Marathon Challenge #07
You are going to pick up a news paper article. Either online or take a snapshot from the hard copy paper. Use appropriate reference for the article you have used. You need to debate and discuss your view points on the selected article. How best can you do? You can pick up any category like general, politics, entertainment, etc. Even guest columns are very much appreciated.
Opportunity rover’s 14 years on Mars may come to a quiet, tragic end
We have this great idea- with our science and smarts and adventurous can do spirit- humanity is going to explore the universe.
Explore of course is just a polite way of saying ” conquer “.
Let me get back on track.
I was watching a show about space exploration and one of the scientists said that the first person to step foot on Mars is alive right now. Along with that uplifting factoid it was left unsaid that the first person to die there is probably alive right now too.
But as we ponder that idea, the reality is Mars has already claimed a few victims and it’s about to claim another.
The most recent?
The Opportunity, the Rover who was only supposed to live for a few months. Instead our intrepid explorer has gone on to explore Mars for 14 years. The Opportunity, sadly was proceeded in death by her sister Spirit who left this life back in 2010 after getting trapped in sand.
There was an entire movement to cheer Spirit on – ” Free Spirit!” logos were popping up all over the place.
Sadly, it wasn’t enough and Spirit died on Memorial Day in 2011
I’m not attempting to treat you to my anthropomorphisms with the Rovers, I am however asking that you keep something in mind.
When I’ve watched shows or read articles by the people who work on these projects- especially the engineers, they say things like ” We explored the Gusev Crater, Our goals are to determine if Mars ever supported life.”
” We “.
Not “The Rovers”.
“We have gone to Mars”
As the Opportunity draws it’s last breath and dies -as the Curiosity is destined to do the same on a cold dusty world far away from home I think we need to realize something.
” We ” have gone to Mars.
Because ‘we’ have invested ourselves into these Rovers because ‘we’ see them as an extension of ourselves I would aruge that the first ‘person’ to set foot on Mars was alive in our lifetime and ” she ” died on Mars on Memorial Day of 2011.
I think we should not lose sight of that.
COLUMBIA HILLS, MARS: From the National Geographic Channel’s Five Years on Mars, after traveling a mile and a half in eight weeks through a desert of broken lava, the rover Spirit explores at Columbia Hills. (Photo by National Geographic Channel )
CGI PHOTO STILL
Opportunity rover’s 14 years on Mars may come to a quiet, tragic end
