Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Loss of Opportunity

I'd like to think that I am an empathetic man, but I have to note that I am sadder about the loss of functionality of a robot than I am about the death of a human being. Of course, the robot added vastly to the sum of human knowledge while the human was a pox on our society...

The Opportunity Rover has gone silent after fifteen years, rendered powerless by a dust storm which covered its solar panels. The rover was only meant to function for three months, but nevertheless it persisted for fifteen years, a decent lifespan for a cat or a dog, much less a Mars rover. Opportunity discovered evidence that liquid water once existed on the surface of Mars. Everyone should have such a long and storied career!

I confess that I feel a bit weird mourning the death of a cute little robot languishing in a distant extraterrestrial desert... I blame George Lucas.

4 comments:

Jimbo said...

Yeah, I also felt a little sad about the passing of Opportunity. Hopefully, NASA will figure out how to add windshield wipers to future Mars rovers so this doesn't happen again.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Cleanup in Crater Seven!

Observer in the World said...

There might be a windstorm🤔

Observer in the World said...

Then rise and be alive once more. I am an optimist.🤥