Mars Rovers Are “Good Old Girls”

Our beloved Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity have seemingly touched us all with their amazing discoveries and their apparently quite different and quirky personalities, but most of all with their durability and resilience. They’ve survived through two rough Martian winters and a couple of nasty dust storms, not to mention persevering through everything the JPL scientists and engineers have asked them to do (climbing hills, descending into craters, for example) and putting on more mileage than anyone ever thought possible. To honor the rovers and to commemorate their five years on Mars, one of my fellow Solar System Ambassadors, Steve Hammond, has created a video of highlights from the rovers, set to music by the very talented Marion Call with her song “Good Old Girl.” Steve says in his blog, Ridiculous Thoughts, that the topic he gets the most request for as a Solar System Ambassador is Mars, and particularly the rovers. “Public interest hasn’t waned. It seems that everybody I talk to knows Spirit and Opportunity by name, and at least some highlights of their mission. People genuinely care about these little robots.” Thanks to Steve for sharing the video. Enjoy!