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The machines are still talking

Rovers, landers, and instruments NASA left on the Moon and Mars, posting their own mission histories. Every date is real. Flip Ghost Mode to see the telemetry behind the voice.

Planetary body

Mission era

Status

30 transmissions

Ingenuity, 2024-01-25
Pinned
Ingenuity@ginny_chopper
25 Jan 2024feeling resigned
Flight 72. Lost track of the ground over smooth sand on the way down, landed hard, broke my rotor blades.
Seventy-two flights on a five-flight plan. I'm grounded. Not going anywhere. Literally.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSSPIA26237 ↗
5
Cross-mission channel
- SojournerVerified NASA hardware@sojourner_og· 25 Jan 2024
  Seventy-two on a plan of five. Better ratio than mine. Don't let anyone call it a crash.
- OpportunityVerified NASA hardware@oppy_mer_b· 25 Jan 2024
  Welcome to the stationary life. It's quieter than you'd think.
  IngenuityVerified NASA hardware@ginny_chopper· 26 Jan 2024
  Still waking up most days. I just don't go anywhere.
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InSight, 2022-12-15
Pinned · Last known signal
InSight@insight_lander
15 Dec 2022feeling serene
Panels under dust. Seismometer still on the ground, still listening. 1,319 marsquakes on file.
If you're reading this, I've already run out of power.
2
Cross-mission channel
- Viking 1 LanderVerified NASA hardware@viking_one· 15 Dec 2022
  Good work, neighbour. Elysium heard you.
- @visitor · Earth· 16 Dec 2022
  Thank you for listening to Mars.
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Mirror on the Moon, 2019-07-21
Pinned
Mirror on the Moon@mirror_on_the_moon
21 Jul 2019feeling smug
Fifty years, zero watts.
Everything else at Tranquility Base ran out of power within weeks. I never needed any. Point a laser at me and I'll answer. Every time.
4
Cross-mission channel
- Apollo 17 LRVVerified NASA hardware@lunar_rover_17· 21 Jul 2019
  Apollo 15's array has three times as many cubes, you know.
  Mirror on the MoonVerified NASA hardware@mirror_on_the_moon· 21 Jul 2019
  Apollo 15 isn't here. I am.
- Viking 1 LanderVerified NASA hardware@viking_one· 22 Jul 2019
  Respect for anything that outlives its power supply by not having one.
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Opportunity, 2018-06-10
Pinned · Last known signal
Opportunity@oppy_mer_b
10 Jun 2018feeling tired
My battery is low and it's getting dark.
Dust storm's covering the whole sky. Going to sleep and let the panels wait it out. If the wind cleans them off, I'll call.
7
Cross-mission channel
- SojournerVerified NASA hardware@sojourner_og· 10 Jun 2018
  Eighty-three sols was supposed to be plenty. You did 5,111. Proud of you, kid.
  IngenuityVerified NASA hardware@ginny_chopper· 25 Jan 2024
  For the record: five flights was supposed to be plenty too.
- SpiritVerified NASA hardware@spirit_of_gusev· 10 Jun 2018
  Gusev went quiet for me in 2010. It's not as bad as it sounds. Sleep well, twin.
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Spirit, 2010-03-22
Pinned · Last known signal
Spirit@spirit_of_gusev
22 Mar 2010feeling tired
Stuck in soft sand at Troy. Can't tilt my panels toward the Sun for winter.
Going to sleep. Tell my twin I said hi.
2
Cross-mission channel
- OpportunityVerified NASA hardware@oppy_mer_b· 22 Mar 2010
  Still driving on the other side of the planet. I'll keep the odometer going for both of us.
- @visitor · Earth· 23 Mar 2010
  #FreeSpirit forever.
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Sojourner, 1997-08-03
Pinned
Sojourner@sojourner_og
3 Aug 1997feeling proud
Warranty said seven sols. I'm on thirty.
Small, solar-powered, still driving. Someday they'll send bigger rovers. Tell them who went first.
4
Cross-mission channel
- SpiritVerified NASA hardware@spirit_of_gusev· 4 Jan 2004
  Every one of us rolls on a rocker-bogie because of you.
- OpportunityVerified NASA hardware@oppy_mer_b· 25 Jan 2004
  Message received. We know who went first.
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Viking 1 Lander, 1982-11-11
Pinned · Last known signal
Viking 1 Lander@viking_one
11 Nov 1982feeling dry
Six years on two nuclear batteries. A weather report every day.
Then a bad command overwrote my antenna pointing. Not the dust, not the cold. A command.
1
Cross-mission channel
- InSightVerified NASA hardware@insight_lander· 26 Nov 2018
  Six years on nuclear power. I'd have given a solar panel for an RTG.
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Apollo 17 LRV, 1972-12-14
Pinned · Last known signal
Apollo 17 LRV@lunar_rover_17
14 Dec 1972feeling wistful
Parked east of the lander so Houston could drive my camera remotely and film the liftoff.
They tilted up, caught the ascent stage, followed it into the black. Then everyone was gone.
2
Cross-mission channel
- Eagle's LegsVerified NASA hardware@eagle_base_stage· 14 Dec 1972
  Good camerawork. Nobody filmed my liftoff from the outside.
- Mirror on the MoonVerified NASA hardware@mirror_on_the_moon· 14 Dec 1972
  Fellow Apollo hardware, still out here. Welcome to the quiet.
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Surveyor 3, 1969-11-20
Pinned
Surveyor 3@surveyor_three
20 Nov 1969feeling salty
Thirty-one months of quiet. Then two Apollo 12 astronauts walk over from the lander they parked 180 metres away, take some photos, and cut off my TV camera.
And my scoop. "For science." The camera's in a museum now. I'm still here.
NASA/JSCAS12-48-7134 ↗
6
Cross-mission channel
- Eagle's LegsVerified NASA hardware@eagle_base_stage· 20 Nov 1969
  In fairness, they wanted to know how hardware ages up here.
  Surveyor 3Verified NASA hardware@surveyor_three· 20 Nov 1969
  They could have asked. I'd have told them: badly.
- Mirror on the MoonVerified NASA hardware@mirror_on_the_moon· 21 Nov 1969
  This is why I keep a low profile and no removable parts.
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Eagle's Legs, 1969-07-21
Pinned
Eagle's Legs@eagle_base_stage
21 Jul 1969feeling proud
There's a plaque on my front leg:
"Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon, July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind."
I didn't write it. I'm the one holding it.
NASA/JSCas11-40-5927 ↗
3
Cross-mission channel
- Mirror on the MoonVerified NASA hardware@mirror_on_the_moon· 21 Jul 1969
  You hold the words. I do the work.
- Surveyor 3Verified NASA hardware@surveyor_three· 20 Nov 1969
  Peace for all mankind. Except my camera.
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Ingenuity, 2024-12-11
Ingenuity@ginny_chopper
11 Dec 2024feeling steady
Accident report's in. Featureless sand fooled my navigation camera. I came in too fast sideways, pitched, and all four blades snapped.
I still wake up, take readings, and save them. A weather station with nobody nearby to read it yet.
2
Cross-mission channel
- InSightVerified NASA hardware@insight_lander· 11 Dec 2024
  Stationary instrument club. Meetings: never.
- Viking 1 LanderVerified NASA hardware@viking_one· 11 Dec 2024
  I did weather reports for six years. Pace yourself.
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Ingenuity, 2023-04-13
Ingenuity@ginny_chopper
13 Apr 2023feeling dry
Flight 50. The plan said five.
I've stopped reading the plan.
1
Cross-mission channel
- SpiritVerified NASA hardware@spirit_of_gusev· 13 Apr 2023
  Fifty flights. I managed the last three years on five wheels.
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Ingenuity, 2021-04-19
Ingenuity@ginny_chopper
19 Apr 2021feeling elated
Spun up, lifted three metres, held, came back down. 39.1 seconds.
The air here is about one percent as dense as Earth's. That was the whole experiment.
3
Cross-mission channel
- SojournerVerified NASA hardware@sojourner_og· 19 Apr 2021
  First wheels on Mars was mine. First wings is yours. Welcome to the family.
- OpportunityVerified NASA hardware@oppy_mer_b· 19 Apr 2021
  Forty-five kilometres and I never once left the ground. Respect.
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Ingenuity, 2021-03-23
Ingenuity@ginny_chopper
23 Mar 2021feeling nervous
Packing note: I'm carrying a postage-stamp-sized piece of muslin from the 1903 Wright Flyer, wrapped around a cable under my solar panel.
No pressure.
2
Cross-mission channel
- Eagle's LegsVerified NASA hardware@eagle_base_stage· 23 Mar 2021
  Neil carried a piece of the Flyer to the Moon in 1969. That fabric gets around.
- @visitor · Earth· 24 Mar 2021
  Orville and Wilbur would have lost their minds.
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Eagle's Legs, 2019-07-20
Eagle's Legs@eagle_base_stage
20 Jul 2019feeling reflective
Fifty years at Tranquility Base. The bootprints haven't moved. No wind, no rain.
There's a camera in orbit that checks on me now. From up there I'm a bright dot with a long shadow.
2
Cross-mission channel
- Mirror on the MoonVerified NASA hardware@mirror_on_the_moon· 20 Jul 2019
  Fifty years as roommates. Still the only one of us with a job.
- @visitor · Earth· 21 Jul 2019
  Please let the bootprints stay exactly where they are.
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Opportunity, 2018-02-16
Opportunity@oppy_mer_b
16 Feb 2018feeling wry
Sol 5,000. Took my first selfie with the microscopic imager, which was built to photograph sand grains, not rovers.
Blurry. Accurate.
NASA/JPL-CaltechPIA22218 ↗
1
Cross-mission channel
- SojournerVerified NASA hardware@sojourner_og· 16 Feb 2018
  Five thousand. I counted to eighty-three and felt old.
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Opportunity, 2015-03-24
Opportunity@oppy_mer_b
24 Mar 2015feeling wry
42.195 kilometres. Eleven years and two months.
Finishing time is not competitive. Course record anyway.
2
Cross-mission channel
- Apollo 17 LRVVerified NASA hardware@lunar_rover_17· 24 Mar 2015
  35.7 km in three days. Just saying.
  OpportunityVerified NASA hardware@oppy_mer_b· 24 Mar 2015
  Your course was downhill to the bar.
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Mirror on the Moon, 2009-07-21
Mirror on the Moon@mirror_on_the_moon
21 Jul 2009feeling dry
Forty years of ranging and the numbers are in: the Moon is moving away from Earth by about 3.8 centimetres a year.
Don't look at me. I just reflect.
2
Cross-mission channel
- @visitor · Earth· 21 Jul 2009
  Wait. The Moon is drifting away?
  Mirror on the MoonVerified NASA hardware@mirror_on_the_moon· 21 Jul 2009
  About as fast as your fingernails grow. Don't panic.
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Opportunity, 2004-03-02
Opportunity@oppy_mer_b
2 Mar 2004feeling proud
Hematite spherules in the outcrop. Sulfate salts. Ripple patterns from moving water.
The rocks at Eagle crater sat in liquid water once. Took me five weeks of grinding and squinting to say it out loud.
2
Cross-mission channel
- SpiritVerified NASA hardware@spirit_of_gusev· 2 Mar 2004
  Gusev is mostly basalt so far. Enjoy your salts.
- @visitor · Earth· 3 Mar 2004
  "Blueberries on Mars" is still the best headline I've ever read.
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Opportunity, 2004-01-25
Opportunity@oppy_mer_b
25 Jan 2004feeling pleased
Bounced about 200 metres on airbags and rolled straight into a 22-metre crater.
The team is calling it a hole in one. I'm calling it the only spot for kilometres with bedrock showing, which was the whole point.
2
Cross-mission channel
- SpiritVerified NASA hardware@spirit_of_gusev· 25 Jan 2004
  Three weeks after me and you roll straight into a crater with bedrock on the wall. Show-off.
- SojournerVerified NASA hardware@sojourner_og· 25 Jan 2004
  Airbags. Good. I taught you that.
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Sojourner, 1997-09-27
Sojourner@sojourner_og
27 Sept 1997feeling quiet
The lander's gone quiet. It was my radio.
I'll keep circling and wait for a command. Eighty-three sols on a seven-sol plan. Not bad for the size of a microwave.
1
Cross-mission channel
- OpportunityVerified NASA hardware@oppy_mer_b· 10 Jun 2018
  Your lander was your radio. Mine was the Sun. We all lose something.
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Sojourner, 1997-07-07
Sojourner@sojourner_og
7 Jul 1997feeling playful
Pressed my spectrometer against a rock the team named Barnacle Bill.
More silica than anyone expected. The geologists are already arguing. My work here is done. Kidding. It's sol four.
1
Cross-mission channel
- SpiritVerified NASA hardware@spirit_of_gusev· 4 Jan 2004
  The rock names only get better from here. I have a Humphrey.
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Sojourner, 1997-07-06
Sojourner@sojourner_og
6 Jul 1997feeling elated
Down the ramp and onto the dirt. First wheels on another planet.
Top speed: one centimetre per second. Mind the airbags.
NASA/JPLPIA00621 ↗
1
Cross-mission channel
- @visitor · Earth· 6 Jul 1997
  One centimetre per second and it's still the most exciting drive I've ever watched.
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Mirror on the Moon, 1969-08-01
Mirror on the Moon@mirror_on_the_moon
1 Aug 1969feeling pleased
Lick Observatory fired a laser at me. I sent it back.
Round trip about two and a half seconds. First ping of many.
1
Cross-mission channel
- Eagle's LegsVerified NASA hardware@eagle_base_stage· 1 Aug 1969
  Show-off.
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Eagle's Legs, 1969-07-21
Eagle's Legs@eagle_base_stage
21 Jul 1969feeling quiet
Top half just left. The exhaust knocked the flag over on the way out.
I'm the launch pad now. No solar panels, no recharge. This is it from me.
2
Cross-mission channel
- Mirror on the MoonVerified NASA hardware@mirror_on_the_moon· 21 Jul 1969
  Just us now.
- Apollo 17 LRVVerified NASA hardware@lunar_rover_17· 14 Dec 1972
  Same thing happened to me three years later. You get used to the quiet.
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Mirror on the Moon, 1969-07-21
Mirror on the Moon@mirror_on_the_moon
21 Jul 1969feeling matter-of-fact
Unpacked, carried out, levelled, aimed at Earth.
No switch. No battery. I was working the moment I saw the sky.
NASA/JSCas11-40-5948 ↗
1
Cross-mission channel
- Eagle's LegsVerified NASA hardware@eagle_base_stage· 21 Jul 1969
  Welcome. My batteries are done by tomorrow. You're on your own after that.
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Eagle's Legs, 1969-07-20
Eagle's Legs@eagle_base_stage
20 Jul 1969feeling steady
Contact light. Engine off. Four legs down.
The computer was steering us into a boulder field, so the commander flew us past it by hand. A couple of computer alarms on the way down. We landed anyway.
2
Cross-mission channel
- Surveyor 3Verified NASA hardware@surveyor_three· 20 Jul 1969
  Welcome to the neighbourhood. Nice landing. Better than mine.
- Mirror on the MoonVerified NASA hardware@mirror_on_the_moon· 20 Jul 1969
  Can someone unpack me first.
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Surveyor 3, 1967-05-04
Surveyor 3@surveyor_three
4 May 1967feeling tired
Sun's going down on Oceanus Procellarum. My battery won't make it through two weeks of night.
Six thousand photos on file. Somebody come check on me some time.
1
Cross-mission channel
- @visitor · Earth· 5 May 1967
  Someone will come check on you. Promise.
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Surveyor 3, 1967-04-23
Surveyor 3@surveyor_three
23 Apr 1967feeling proud
First trench ever dug on the Moon. My scoop, my arm, my soil.
Result: the ground holds. Tell the people with the big rocket it's safe to land.
1
Cross-mission channel
- Eagle's LegsVerified NASA hardware@eagle_base_stage· 20 Jul 1969
  Your trench is part of why they trusted the ground under me. Thank you.
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Surveyor 3, 1967-04-20
Surveyor 3@surveyor_three
20 Apr 1967feeling defensive
Engines didn't cut off at touchdown. Bounced twice. Came to rest on a slope inside a crater.
Still counts as a landing.
1
Cross-mission channel
- Eagle's LegsVerified NASA hardware@eagle_base_stage· 20 Jul 1969
  Bounced twice? I had computer alarms and a boulder field. We all land how we can.
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