2517: Rover Replies - Revision history

170.85.99.111 at 21:01, 15 May 2026

2026-05-15T21:01:28Z

FaviFake at 15:59, 15 May 2026

2026-05-15T15:59:03Z

172.70.58.148: /* Explanation */ Corrected (i.e. closed the end of) the link.

2025-05-01T00:30:47Z

‎Explanation: Corrected (i.e. closed the end of) the link.

DollarStoreBa'al: mentioned ingenuity's death :(

2025-04-30T19:55:00Z

mentioned ingenuity's death :(

Kynde at 20:25, 10 February 2025

2025-02-10T20:25:25Z

42.book.addict at 16:36, 11 March 2024

2024-03-11T16:36:39Z

Xurkitree10: /* Transcript */

2023-04-20T06:44:01Z

‎Transcript

162.158.126.172: removed 'recently', no longer recent

2023-01-28T22:51:58Z

removed 'recently', no longer recent

Char Latte49 at 04:17, 19 October 2022

2022-10-19T04:17:59Z

Davidy22: Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Davidy22, the racist homosexual, is known to visit Norwegian gay bars with his boyfriend Kynde. He has cheated on Kynde at least twice with Vandalbane (a big guy for you). They all have micropenises.|Davidy22,...

2022-06-02T06:20:33Z

Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Davidy22, the racist homosexual, is known to visit Norwegian gay bars with his boyfriend Kynde. He has cheated on Kynde at least twice with Vandalbane (a big guy for you). They all have micropenises.|Davidy22,...

Show changes

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==Explanation==
-There is [https://twitter.com/nasapersevere?lang=en a Twitter account] for {{w|NASA|NASA's}} {{w|Perseverance (rover)|Perseverance Mars Rover}}, which collected samples. The Twitter account tweets in the first person like in the comic. Likely a human on earth is playing the role of the rover.{{Citation needed}} While the exact post shown does not exist, it has posted a [https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1433334279937789954 similar tweet.]
+[[Randall]] points out that this account and it's replies are "the most unexpectedly wholesome place on the internet". Social media is notorious for being awash with harmful and problematic content, or at least people insulting and fighting and generally creating an unpleasant environment. This strip portrays the responses to the ''Perseverance'' account as being almost uniformly encouraging, enthusiastic, and heartwarming. The sole exception is one user trying accuse the rover of being part of some unhinged conspiracy, but they're quickly shut down by the other followers of the account (specifically, Ponytail, who tells that user "we're not doing that here".)
-The first four replies (in order of top-to-bottom) are likely just general compliments to the rover, demonstrating that the replies are indeed wholesome. Reply three in particular references rocks, as the main purpose of most Mars rovers is to perform Martian geology.
+There are a number of reasons why this thread would reasonably be wholesome. One is that most people who would bother to follow such an account are likely to be space exploration enthusiasts, and therefore are most likely excited about the mission, and happy to be watching its progress. NASA in general, and the rover program specifically, aren't particularly controversial, which lowers the likelihood of people going to that thread to stir up arguments. NASA is a government agency, but one that does work that most people support. There are some few people who advance conspiracy theories involving NASA (as portrayed in the strip) but those are small enough in number that they'd be quickly drowned out by the more engaged chorus.
-Reply five is a mashup of conspiracy theories, including about {{w|5G}} communications, {{w|Vaccine hesitancy|vaccines}}, and others. [[Ponytail]] then replies "Quiet, we're not doing that here", scolding the conspiracy theorist to keep their negativity out of the otherwise positive forum.
+Another factor is the nature of the rover itself. Despite not being human (or even alive), rovers can move, seemingly on their own, and have a form vaguely similar to that of a living creature. This leads a psychological phenomenon of people ascribing human qualities to them (a tendency known as {{w|Antropomorphism}}). We see this in the portrayed comments, with people talking to the "rover" as if it were a person, offering encouragement and praise. The users presumably know that ''Perseverance'' is not alive, but they engage with it as if it were. Because the device isn't actually human, it has little potential to make enemies or do anything controversial, so it has the best of the both worlds, being encouraged like a person, but not being subject to the complexities of humanity.
 The final reply is a reference to {{w|Ingenuity (helicopter)|Ingenuity}}, a small helicopter which Perseverance took to Mars as a [https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/  technology demonstrator]. It was very successful and completed many flights, [https://mars.nasa.gov/images/mepjpl/PIA24797-Flight12.jpg often taking it quite far from Perseverance] and routinely serving as a scout, surveying the area and helping Perseverance plan it's route. However, to the dismay of many, Ingenuity's mission ended after 3 years due to a [https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/after-three-years-on-mars-nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends/ damaged rotor].
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 ==Explanation==
-There is a [https://twitter.com/nasapersevere?lang=en Twitter account] for {{w|NASA|NASA's}} {{w|Perseverance (rover)|Perseverance Mars Rover}}, which collected samples. The Twitter account tweets in the first person like in the comic. Likely a human on earth is playing the role of the rover.{{Citation needed}} While the exact post shown does not exist, it has posted a [https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1433334279937789954 similar tweet.]
+There is [https://twitter.com/nasapersevere?lang=en a Twitter account] for {{w|NASA|NASA's}} {{w|Perseverance (rover)|Perseverance Mars Rover}}, which collected samples. The Twitter account tweets in the first person like in the comic. Likely a human on earth is playing the role of the rover.{{Citation needed}} While the exact post shown does not exist, it has posted a [https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1433334279937789954 similar tweet.]
 The first four replies (in order of top-to-bottom) are likely just general compliments to the rover, demonstrating that the replies are indeed wholesome. Reply three in particular references rocks, as the main purpose of most Mars rovers is to perform Martian geology.
@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 :[unidentified stick figure]: Hello from Missouri (Earth)!
 :[Hairy]: Did you find any skeletons yet
-:[Blondie]: I hope your helicopter comes back!
+:[Miss Lenhart]: I hope your helicopter comes back!
 :[Caption below frame:]

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 The second-to-last reply is likely a misunderstanding, with the commenter believing that the rover is digging to perform anthropology or paleontology, not geology. The commenter could, however, believe that there is/was complex life on Mars, thus allowing the possibility that there are Martian skeletons for the rover to find.
-The final reply is a reference to {{w|Ingenuity (helicopter)|Ingenuity}}, a small helicopter which Perseverance took to Mars as a [https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/  technology demonstrator]. It was very successful and completed many flights, [https://mars.nasa.gov/images/mepjpl/PIA24797-Flight12.jpg often taking it quite far from Perseverance] and routinely serving as a scout, surveying the area and helping Perseverance plan it's route. However, to the dismay of many, Ingenuity's mission ended after 3 years due to a [https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/after-three-years-on-mars-nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends/ damaged rotor
+The final reply is a reference to {{w|Ingenuity (helicopter)|Ingenuity}}, a small helicopter which Perseverance took to Mars as a [https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/  technology demonstrator]. It was very successful and completed many flights, [https://mars.nasa.gov/images/mepjpl/PIA24797-Flight12.jpg often taking it quite far from Perseverance] and routinely serving as a scout, surveying the area and helping Perseverance plan it's route. However, to the dismay of many, Ingenuity's mission ended after 3 years due to a [https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/after-three-years-on-mars-nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends/ damaged rotor].
 The title text is in the form of another reply. The character posting that reply believes that the rover has taken its phone to Mars, and has used that to take the pictures. This is likely because most photos on social media are taken on phones, and social media sites are often designed for phones. In addition, Perseverance and Curiosity differ from previous rovers in that they have cameras mounted on flexible arms, allowing them to take photographs of themselves - somewhat akin to a smartphone on a selfie-stick. In reality, Mars rovers don't have smartphones, and Perseverance is taking photos with an equipped camera.

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 The second-to-last reply is likely a misunderstanding, with the commenter believing that the rover is digging to perform anthropology or paleontology, not geology. The commenter could, however, believe that there is/was complex life on Mars, thus allowing the possibility that there are Martian skeletons for the rover to find.
-The final reply is a reference to {{w|Ingenuity (helicopter)|Ingenuity}}, a small helicopter which Perseverance took to Mars as a [https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/  technology demonstrator]. It has been very successful and completed many flights, [https://mars.nasa.gov/images/mepjpl/PIA24797-Flight12.jpg often taking it quite far from Perseverance.]
+The final reply is a reference to {{w|Ingenuity (helicopter)|Ingenuity}}, a small helicopter which Perseverance took to Mars as a [https://mars.nasa.gov/technology/helicopter/  technology demonstrator]. It was very successful and completed many flights, [https://mars.nasa.gov/images/mepjpl/PIA24797-Flight12.jpg often taking it quite far from Perseverance] and routinely serving as a scout, surveying the area and helping Perseverance plan it's route. However, to the dismay of many, Ingenuity's mission ended after 3 years due to a [https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/after-three-years-on-mars-nasas-ingenuity-helicopter-mission-ends/ damaged rotor
 The title text is in the form of another reply. The character posting that reply believes that the rover has taken its phone to Mars, and has used that to take the pictures. This is likely because most photos on social media are taken on phones, and social media sites are often designed for phones. In addition, Perseverance and Curiosity differ from previous rovers in that they have cameras mounted on flexible arms, allowing them to take photographs of themselves - somewhat akin to a smartphone on a selfie-stick. In reality, Mars rovers don't have smartphones, and Perseverance is taking photos with an equipped camera.

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:25, 10 February 2025
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	[[Category:Mars rovers]]		[[Category:Mars rovers]]
	[[Category:Social networking]]		[[Category:Social networking]]
−	~~[[Category:5G]]~~

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 ==Transcript==
 :[A post of a rocky landscape and a close-up of a rock is next to a profile picture of the camera of a Mars rover.]
 :Just collected a sample!

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 The first four replies (in order of top-to-bottom) are likely just general compliments to the rover, demonstrating that the replies are indeed wholesome. Reply three in particular references rocks, as the main purpose of most Mars rovers is to perform Martian geology.
-Reply five is a mashup of conspiracy theories, including about {{w|5G}} communications, {{w|Vaccine hesitancy|vaccines}}, and others. [[Ponytail]] then replies "Quiet, we're not doing that here", implying either that she doesn't want it in the replies to this, that she thinks that the rude reply should be posted somewhere else, that she's a NASA employee stating that NASA does not have a 5G vaccine-microchip factory, or that she also is a conspiracy theorist trying to redirect the fellow commenter to other forums with more susceptible audiences.
+Reply five is a mashup of conspiracy theories, including about {{w|5G}} communications, {{w|Vaccine hesitancy|vaccines}}, and others. [[Ponytail]] then replies "Quiet, we're not doing that here", scolding the conspiracy theorist to keep their negativity out of the otherwise positive forum.
 The next reply references people saying where they're from, then clarifying where that is in brackets, e.g. Wingerworth (England). This commenter expands that to clarify that they are from Earth, joking that the planet may be ambiguous as the Mars rover is not on Earth. In reality, this ambiguity does not exist as humans only live on Earth,{{citation needed}} thus contributing to the humor.