Our Mars rovers will likely last at least 100,000 years. What will the next cycle of intelligent life on Earth think when their rovers find ours?
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@angbob, I hope our "life" program (our DNA) will help our civilization to continue at least another 100K years. This great achievement done by NASA people + NYT and technology + funding to see & understand it from the comfort of our room will be history! I hope!
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To me, Mars just looks like what Earth will look like once humans are done with it.
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@Chris
I am so fearful this may be the case. We certainly are on a path leading to such a potential outcome. How come we never learn from experience?
The one science, the only science, that utterly fails to excite me is astronomy. There is so much to know and learn here on planet earth, so much that's vital to the survival of living things (including threatened bats), to the reversal of cataclysmic climate change, to the prevention of devastating childhood diseases, famine, etcetera that spending brain time roving the dead universe seems as terrible a waste as that environment itself.
@tony barone Tony, I disagree. We need to learn what Mars is about. Most of the world leaders (including the USA) do not want to treat global warming as a threat. When all the ice has melted and the whole Earth is super hot, all living things will not be able to live. Studying Mars right now gives us a chance to see if we can live on the planet and continue the human race if or when Earth gets unlivable. Mars is not a failure, but a need.
Why not stop global warming? Even if Mars could be colonized who would decide who goes and who stays on a hostile earth?
@tony barone
Tony, it's not a zero-sum game. We have the power to attack all problems. All of our history has been a fight among those who solve problems, those who deny them, and those who exploit them.
As for exploring, it is a quality of Homo Sapiens. We are curious, which is why we are not extinct. I justify exploring places like Mars with this irrefutable argument: I wish to know what is there.
210,000 photos -- and not one selfie.
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@Peter Pitts
Dang! So let's end up a robot to repair the rover, and remind it to take a picture of itself. I am 76 years old, and I need to have this done right away, so get on it, NASA!
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While landing a human being on the moon was a tremendous technical feat, I always thought putting the rovers on Mars eclipsed the moon landings. What an incredible amount of intricate planning and execution that was necessary in order to overcome the obstacles traveling that great distance and landing on such a hostile planet.
And to have this treasure trove of photographs from a mechanized and computer-driven rover that lasted months and months surviving the raging storms on the planet is a marvel of scientific know-how.
Thank you NASA.
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My old geology senses are tingling. Wonderful photographs.
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Thank you NASA for designing and accomplishing this endeavor that succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, and on a laughably meager budget. What could this wonderful country do if its leaders were brave enough to admit that they believe in science and had the will to divert a tiny slice of the military pie to support it?
NASA’s achievements should be dominating our headlines rather than our mendacious president, his fragile ego and his feckless supporters. Democrats should be touting these scientific accomplishments as examples of what we as a country can achieve through our ingenuity, curiosity, and far-sightedness.
Bravo Opportunity, your journey has thrilled us earthlings!
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Such an amazing story of human discovery, on another planet far, far away. I'm thrilled to be living through the time when such things are possible but taken for granted by some and drowned out by the din of those who don't believe in or much care about science.
We really are the universe trying to understand itself.
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Duet on Mars
by John Updike
Said Spirit to Opportunity,
“I’m feeling rather frail,
With too much in my memory,
Plus barrels of e-mail.”
Responded Opportunity,
“My bounce was not so bad,
But now they send me out to see
These dreary rocks, bedad!”
“It’s cold up here, and rather red,”
Sighed Spirit. “I feel faint.”
Good Opportunity then said,
“Crawl on, without complaint!
“This planet needs our shovels’ bite
And treadmarks in the dust
To tell if life and hematite
Pervade its arid crust.”
“There’s life, by all the stars above,
On Mars—it’s you and I!”
Blithe Spirit cried. “Let’s rove, my love,
And meet before we die!”
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I hope some of the people who say government is inept take the time to read this.
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"In the end, with an extra 14 years of science, NASA spent $1.2 billion."
For the price of the useless border wall, we could be exploring the universe and inspiring tomorrow's scientists for the next 60 years.
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*More* money for space exploration!
No money for a wall. I'm sure, absolutely certain, that NASA could be doing some very good things with the $8,000,000,000 that Trump wants to waste on his "National Emergency" con job.
I think the xkcd comic about the Spirit rover is just right. More money for space!
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These photos should get Elon Musk a lot of volunteers. Such an inviting place.
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A one-way excursion to a guaranteed death. Might be appealing to some.
We’re all on that journey
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I remember the Mars Pathfinder landing in 1997. How exciting it was, and only costing about the price of a blockbuster movie.
Please NASA, don't waste money trying to send humans to Mars. These robots are doing a great job for Science, and for lifting our spirits.
Spend the saved money on "terraforming" Earth. It's an emergency.
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Wonderful.
Great photos - almost of mystical qualities of Ansel Adams (in B&W).
Thanks for NYT coverage throughout the life of this incredible "driverless" car.
And it lasted longer than may be total lifespan of Tesla, Waymo and others combined.
I graduated from Caltech and worked two summers at JPL - I wish I had not entered oil patch - which was a good ride.
But JPL would have been one for ages to remember.
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Hey NYT - what a great tribute to the people who designed - built - launched - landed and operated Oppie. In a future time - maybe the rovers will feature in a Mars museum (pref on Earth) as an inspiration to the curious and adventurous among us to go forth and trek ever deeper into the stars.
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Such vivid photos! While they reveal the planet’s past, they also capture the planet’s variety of places. I had no idea before seeing these how alien , how different the photos are from each other and from my expectations!
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I have a very active imagination yet my rational brain still has to prod it into full comprehension: “ THIS IS ANOTHER PLANET FLOATING OUT THERE IN SPACE!” So amazing. Thank you for summarizing this epic exploration. I want a hematite blueberry for my rock box.
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A very loud congratulations to NASA, and a very sincere condolences, too. We may be looking at the Earth if humanity cannot control climate change which we have let loose. I apologize for my part in this.
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All for the cost of three B1 bombers - $1.2 billion. Makes you think.
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Behold, the near future of Earth!!
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I'm not usually a big space science buff. But this article and the photos were mesmerizing. thanks!
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I have never been more proud of my country as when I visited NASA-JPL on 2018 Family Day in Pasadena CA. I left the location that day in awe of the multitude of varied projects and accomplishments my tax dollars have funded. I can think of no better investment in my future than directing my finances and faith in the dedicated scientific professionals at NASA.
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I applaud NYT for writing this article and publishing these pictures. If we spend more time in real news and such incredible things happening around us, we will become a better nation.
We have thousands of comments on Trump articles and tens on this incredible article. May be we should concentrate lot more on STEM in in our education system.
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Wonderful photos.
What have we learned?
Mars is very inhospitable to humans.
The entire solar system is worse.
The rest of the universe is unreachable.
We must be very careful how we treat this planet.
We have nowhere else to go.
Or am I missing something here?
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I noticed that a few of these comments are from scientists. I guess we got into science because we loved this stuff and we continue to love it, even though most of us work on different topics now. Maybe it's that openness to new experiences is the defining personality trait of a scientist. What could be a more exciting new experience than being on another planet?
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Excellent. Let's keep exploring. Let's keep going to new and strange places, learning new things and inspiring all sorts of good stuff. We've got the brains, the money, and the smart/brave people willing and able to make it happen.
Let's go.
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Wow. These powerful photos, especially the one of Perseverance Valley, evoke a strong feeling of kinship with this distant planet.
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Amazing photos! Reminds us that there are other worlds to explore and discover, opens up our minds, and makes us think about something other than ourselves. Geez should we build a wall or travel to other planets?
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@David - Build a wall!
This is one of the most profound subjects anyone will ever read about in the Times or anywhere. Yet 8 comments.
The American people are too busy arguing over fake walls, to keep humans apart. Why bother with science?????
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What comments should they make? This was one of the first articles I read this morning, but there's not really much to add, since it's such an unquestionably valuable project and a fascinating read.
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@Steven
Sadly, there citizens of the USA who believe that NASA is part of the "Deep State," that all these photographs are faked, that all the technology we designed to get us to Mars is fake, and/or that there are actual Martians and Martian cities that NASA is trying to hide from us for its own nefarious purposes. (This goes hand-in-hand with the longstanding conspiracy theory that our trips to the Moon were hoaxes.)
Never mind bothering with science. How many Americans incorrectly define "science" as an arbitrary set of misconceptions and mythologies designed to separate us from God? Far too many. There are now 26 comments on this article. We may be reaching the outer limits of anyone's appreciation of what we accomplished on Mars.
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Of all the money I pay in taxes, and it's a lot, this is the only thing I can't complain about. With all our problems and the constant bickering and name calling, I look at these pictures and think, how cool is that? Humans are still looking at undiscovered places and making the rest of us dream and forget, if even for just a minute, our worldly problems. It also shows what a spectacular planet we live on and we'd better take care of it. We aren't going to be saved by going to a harsh place like Mars if we completely screw this one up.
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@Al
Regarding the name-calling, the time has long since passed for the intellectually non-curious (obsessing over the shallow piffle on their digital devices) to stop calling STEM-types "nerds" and "geeks," who are responsible for making their precious devices a reality.
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Rover achiever.
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@Mark Well played.
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packing my bags, I'm going! Gonna bring some trees too! :)
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This is so cool. As a scientist, I often wonder how to get people excited about science. This is what should be all over the news, in addition to the horrible depressing news that we need to know.
How many people decided to go into science watching the race to the moon and the moon landing? How can the adventure of this mission not capture the imagination in the same way?
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Great article and mission. Glad to be paying taxes for this, would pay even more!
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The stunning photos, alone, made this whole mission worthwhile. I realize that the main point was science. And I'm even a scientist, so I should understand that. But the photos are just amazing. These images are of another planet. As if we are just standing there and looking out. On another planet! Incredible.
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Great Article!
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These pictures are amazing and intriguing, but most of all they make me want to preserve our blue and very alive planet that we are all lucky to live on.
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