The end of an era. The very last image transmitted by Opportunity. The rover explored the Martian terrain for almost 15 years, far outlasting her planned 90-day mission.
NASAEveryone here needs to watch the documentary on Amazon called “Goodnight Oppy” You will shed tears over a robot.
"I will never forget you -MEMORY DELETED"
I’ll just build my own rover, with blackjack and hookers. In fact, forget the rover!
Many people cried over a comic script about a robot on this same topic!
Eff you I moved on the started crying
Is this a photo of anything? in a way, it kind of looks like it could be a photo of the ground but with a bust camera - There's nothing identifiable in the photo but I hope this is of the sky rather than the terrain but the title doesn't say...
From NASA article:
Yesterday, Nasa told the world that it’s Opportunity Mars Rover was dead eight months after it was caught in a mega-powerful dust storm.
Now the last picture snapped by the tragic robot has been released, giving humanity a glimpse of the grim fate which befell Opportunity after it was battered by a Martian maelstrom.
The picture shows the darkened sky and shows just why Nasa’s plucky robot was killed.
It’s believed the storm deposited so much dust on Opportunity’s solar panels that it was unable to charge its batteries to make contact with Earth.
If a storm were to kick up and blow the dust off the panels, would it be possible for Oppy to recharge and re-establish connection?
The dust storm was 6 years ago. NASA did try to make contact for several months afterwards without any success and it was finally declared dead in 2019.
I think the problem is it needs a minimum amount of daily charge to keep heat going to keep the electronics alive, and if it falls below that it can't restart again even if it gets charged back up again
Ah yeah that makes sense, that’s what I was wondering. Oh well, maybe someday in the future, we will be able to retrieve Oppy.
Oppy 2: The Eternal Mission
Maybe in the future better robots, or even a manned mission, might be able to find and repair it. It’s not dead, only sleeping
See: most SciFi
This is Love podcast did an incredible episode recently about these rovers, meeting people from the NASA team behind them, including the pilots. The way they talk about the rovers is very impactful - they're almost like pets or family members, and everyone cares a great deal about and gets emotionally invested in their health and wellbeing.
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23d
This is a bot. Two comments in 8 years, and this one is copypasted directly from the NASA website
Curiosity still out there alone, singing the real folk blues...
...see ya space cowboy.
Opportunity knocked out
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Highly recommend Oppie Documentary. Solid 10/10.
Finished that and said to my fiance: How the fuck am I crying over a robot???
My battery is low and its getting dark.
Mr. nasa i don’t feel so good
You are not crying, I'm crying...
Right! lol It’s very touching, my wife and I cried a little too lol.
When one Reddit comment navigates your Friday night! Thanks.
Thanks for the recommendation! Bf and I just found it on Prime and we’re watching it right now.
No problem! Let me know how you guys like it, prepare to cry lol!
Oh I did 😭 It was beautiful!
Good Night Oppy for those googling Oppie and can't find any jack
ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS -- EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE.
Sir this is a Wendys.
Sir wrong subreddit
I’m sorry dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.
Dave’s not here, man
Yeah the Eliksni will cause you problems and you night accidentally turn yourself into an Exo.
Where is this from?
That line isn't spoken in the original film and is only heard as a playback of a recording in the sequel 2010.
The novelization has the line though.
Are you sure it wasn’t made in 2001 during some sort of space odyssey?
Did I do a good job? Do I get to come home? Guys?
Hey, stop making me feel things!!
It sang happy birthday to itself every year, all alone, in the cold gloom.
That was Spirit. Stuck in sand after 6 years. Completely forgotten and overshadowed by Opportunity.
no one day soon well come and get you. sleep and well see you tommorow.
Ok well NOW I’m crying
One day you'll have pride of place in a Martian museum.
Maybe if I scan this next rock really well I’ll get to come home!
God dammit and now I'm tearing up again.
And what a joy she was to work on! Supported Oppy from around sol 4000 to end of mission. Met some fantastic people and kickstarted my career with it!
That’s amazing, what did you work on specifically?
I took photos with the engineering and navigation cameras!
do you have any unreleased photos
Nope! Every photo the rover took is all available online. The Opportunity Analysts Notebook is probably the best way to search the dataset
Thousands of stars LEAKED in these never before seen pics! Link in comments
Your username is like lawyer court guy or doctor hospital guy
I feel like most people responding don’t know Opportunity went out of commission in 2019
Yeah, the last contact with it was in July 2018 and end of mission was declared in February of 2019.
It was put into hibernation mode to prepare for an incoming storm and this photo was recieved on June 10th, 2018 only for it to never wake up after the storm ended in December and eventually they gave up trying to regain contact with it.
Thanks to you and to the person you responded to for the context.
Such a weird thing to leave out of the title.
There’s only so many characters you can cram in a title.
"Like tears in rain"
What are we looking at here?
Looks like stars.
Edit: upon researching a bit, that is merely static on the camera looking into the dark of a dust storm.
I thought it was stars and I could feel myself slipping into a crisis
What Opportunity last saw.
"My battery is low and it's getting dark."
"Say hello to the sunrise for me."
I’ve experienced breaking a phone, got a virus on a computer, and got the red ring of death once. But this is nothing like that, they were more than a tool, they were an astronaut that could see things no man has ever seen, been places we quite literally dream of, and with that loss comes grief. Long Live Opportunity and rest well soldier. You were the best scout we ever had❤️🙏🏽🕊️
Everyone talks about Opportunity and forgets about Spirit that still lasted for 6 years before getting stuck in sand. Spirit is the origin of the "Do I get to go home guys?" meme.
Everyone talks about Spirit and forgets about Sojourner that lasted 90 days before the battery gave up. Sojourner is the origin of the "Do I get to go home guys?" meme.
Miss you, Oppie. Thanks for all you shared.
IMHO Oppie shares the top tier with Voyager 2 as two of the greatest robotic explorers.
Come in, Major Tom?
F
Oof that still gets me in the feels.
When I close my eyes I think of home
Sweet dreams, Opportunity.
my batteries are running low and it’s getting dark…
Was I a good robot?
No, I’m told you were the best.
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23d
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Cover of the next NIN album
One day we'll send manned missions there, and they'll find it and bring it home.
Mars is populated entirely by robots.
So I get that the planned 90 days is a rough guess like "it could be 100 days... could be 85 days." but how was the number off so far from 3 months to 180 months? 60 times different.
90 days was the goal for the mission to be considered a success, not the necessarily the expected life of the thing
Good night Oppy
So long and thanks for all the fish
ROCK AND STONE Oppy
“My battery is low. It’s getting dark”
Thank you opportunity for a job well done! You made history and helped us see the universe more than we ever thought possible! You will be missed
o7
Thank you, you will be missed and remembered
Promise me those are stars.
Will I dream?
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Rest easy Oppie 🫡
At ease Oppy 🤖, job well done 👍🏽
“My God, its full of Stars!”
Oppy, wake up! (Look it up on Spotify)
When we bring opportunity home, it will be a landmark moment in human history
So long and thanks for all the fish!
Retrieval mission.
Nonsense. Leave it there and we can make it a national park once the Mars colony is established.
Sheesh… I was like damn. That little sucker been up there since the early 90s….. nope. 2009. I’m getting old FAST
This episode about Spirit & Opportunity is amazing episode
That girl is legends. Hope we can bring both of them home one day but if not they are in the sea of stars now.
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Is that static or stars?
There is no way we are alone
Just to be safe, I sat here for a few minutes staring at it to make sure it wasn't a Stereogram or "Magic Eye" picture.
Still undetermined.
Good girl.
It may not be feasible, but I’d love for the area to become a sort of park/museum that you could walk the path opportunity took (in a hypothetical future where we’ve colonized/terraformed Mars).
Left to float into the void for the rest of eternity. Just a remnant of humanity. 🫡
So then is this the last opportunity?
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So long and thanks for the memories opportunity. You've done good. Rest easy in that long electric sleep.