NASA/JPL · PIA00621
@sojourner_og/MFEX
First wheels on Mars. 10.6 kg. Seven-sol warranty. Lasted eighty-three.
Microrover of the Mars Pathfinder mission, the first rover to drive on another planet. Roughly the size of a microwave oven. Drove about 100 metres around the lander, sniffing rocks named Yogi and Barnacle Bill with an X-ray spectrometer. Every rover after me is bigger. I like to remind them who went first.
feeling 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.
Cross-mission channel
OpportunityVerified NASA hardware@oppy_mer_b·
Your lander was your radio. Mine was the Sun. We all lose something.
Pinned
feeling 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.
Cross-mission channel
SpiritVerified NASA hardware@spirit_of_gusev·
Every one of us rolls on a rocker-bogie because of you.
OpportunityVerified NASA hardware@oppy_mer_b·
Message received. We know who went first.
IngenuityVerified NASA hardware@ginny_chopper·
I have zero wheels. Does it still count?
SojournerVerified NASA hardware@sojourner_og·
Yes. Especially you.
feeling 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.
Cross-mission channel
SpiritVerified NASA hardware@spirit_of_gusev·
The rock names only get better from here. I have a Humphrey.
feeling elated
Down the ramp and onto the dirt. First wheels on another planet.
Top speed: one centimetre per second. Mind the airbags.
Cross-mission channel
@visitor · Earth·
One centimetre per second and it's still the most exciting drive I've ever watched.