Difference between revisions of "695: Spirit"

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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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{{w|Anthropomorphism}} (or personification) is attribution of distinctly human characteristics to animals or non-living things. We make parallels between ourselves and objects, to the point where some people even jocularly worry about hurting the feelings of, say, an automobile. We call ships "she." We see human faces in objects like the arrangement of lights on the front of a car.
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This comic explores what the {{w|Spirit rover}}'s life would be like if it had a human personality. The rover lasted 5¼ active years on the Martian surface, far exceeding its expected mission duration of 90 Martian days. A sentient  robot might assume that after its initially planned 90 {{w|Timekeeping on Mars|Martian day}} mission was over, it would get to return home. This assumes, of course, that the rover never understood that the mission was a one-way trip, and that the expectation was that it would simply fail after ninety days. When no one comes to return it home, ''Spirit'', possibly in a pun on its name, keeps its hopes alive while continuously analyzing rock after rock for ''years.''
  
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The {{w|Spirit rover|''Spirit'' Mars rover}}, like many high-functioning robots in real life and fiction, shares many physical similarities with a human being or animal. It has a head, eyes, neck, body, legs, feet, arms, and a hand. And it strikingly resembles robots from fiction, such as Johnny 5 from ''{{w|Short Circuit (1986 film)|Short Circuit}},'' or {{w|WALL-E}} from the film with the same name.
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It would be cruelty of the absolute worst kind to abandon a human on an uninhabited planet with no intention of ''ever'' bringing them home,{{Citation needed}} so it's horrifying when we see the rover in this way. It's a relief to us that the Spirit rover is just a programmed machine.
  
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Thus, this comic explores what the ''Spirit'' rover's life would be like if it had a human personality. The rover was never intended to return to Earth, and lasted 5¼ active years on the Martian surface, far exceeding its expected mission duration of 90 Martian days. A sentient  robot might assume that after her initially planned 90 {{w|Timekeeping on Mars|Martian day}} mission was over, she'd get to return home. So, though this heartbreakingly did not happen, ''Spirit'', possibly in a pun on her name, keeps her hopes alive as she continues analyzing rock after rock for ''years.''
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{{w|Opportunity rover|Opportunity}}, the rover's twin, lasted longer than Spirit and was shut down in February 2019 ([[2111: Opportunity Rover]]). More than five years after this comic, when Opportunity had passed a Marathon distance, [[Randall]] celebrated this rover with the comic [[1504: Opportunity]].
  
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It would be cruelty of the absolute worst kind to create an intelligence with such feelings, and then abandon it on an uninhabited planet with no intention of ''ever'' bringing it home. So one is rather heartened that the ''Spirit'' rover ''is,'' in fact, just a programmed machine, and we explained to it very carefully that it was embarking on a one-way trip.
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The title text has an apparent miscount: January 26, 2010, is more like sol (Martian day) 2156 by JPL's [http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_spiritAll_2010.html#sol2151 mission status site,] not 2274.
  
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It is worth pointing out that ''{{w|Opportunity rover|Opportunity}},'' the rover's twin, has been even more wildly successful and was only shut down in February 2019. More than five years after this comic, when Opportunity had passed a Marathon distance, [[Randall]] celebrated this rover with the comic [[1504: Opportunity]].
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The final contact with ''Spirit'' was on sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).
  
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The title text has an apparent miscount: January 26, 2010, is more like sol (Martian day) 2156 by JPL's [http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status_spiritAll_2010.html#sol2151 mission status site,] not 2274.
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;Alternative versions
 +
The strip had a strong emotional impact on the fans of the rover, who created a number of alternative versions and endings for it.
 +
 
 +
In a [http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/02/08/android-bug-reports-songs-rovers/ blog post] Randall mentioned this upbeat [https://imgs.xkcd.com/blag/spirit_rewrite_unknown_author.png rewrite] of the comic. [http://xkcdsw.com/2486 Several] [http://xkcdsw.com/2485 others] [http://xkcdsw.com/3524 were] [http://xkcdsw.com/2483 made], including a [http://xkcdsw.com/2488 silent] one.
  
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Final contact was on sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).
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Many alternative endings were also proposed: some are [http://xkcdsw.com/3729 sad], some [http://xkcdsw.com/2492 sarcastic], some [http://xkcdsw.com/3100 romantic], some look forward to the day when Spirit is finally [http://xkcdsw.com/2487 recovered] ([https://imgur.com/r/xkcd/zNi5YSZ this one] was seen somewhere at {{w|CERN}}). Others imagine a [http://xkcdsw.com/3968 future] when the rover is not alone any more.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): It's okay, I'll do the next one better.
 
:''Spirit'' (thinking): It's okay, I'll do the next one better.
  
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:Day 1293 of 90
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:Day 1328 of 90
 
:''Spirit'' (thinking): Sandstorm. Power dying.
 
:''Spirit'' (thinking): Sandstorm. Power dying.
 
:''Spirit'' (thinking): But a good rover would keep going. A good rover like they wanted.
 
:''Spirit'' (thinking): But a good rover would keep going. A good rover like they wanted.
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:[''Spirit'' rests in the middle of a vast Martian landscape.]
 
:[''Spirit'' rests in the middle of a vast Martian landscape.]
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==Trivia==
 
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The strip had a strong emotional impact on the fans of the rover, who created a number of alternative versions and endings for it.
 
−
 
−
In a [http://blog.xkcd.com/2010/02/08/android-bug-reports-songs-rovers/ blog post] Randall mentioned a [https://imgs.xkcd.com/blag/spirit_rewrite_unknown_author.png rewrites] of this comic. [http://xkcdsw.com/2486 Several] [http://xkcdsw.com/2485 others] [http://xkcdsw.com/3524 were] [http://xkcdsw.com/2483 made], including a [http://xkcdsw.com/2488 silent] one.
 
−
 
−
Many alternative endings were also made:
 
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* some are [http://xkcdsw.com/3729 sad], some [http://xkcdsw.com/2492 sarcastic], some [http://xkcdsw.com/3100 romantic]
 
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* some look forward to the day when Spirit is finally [http://xkcdsw.com/2487 recovered] ([https://imgur.com/r/xkcd/zNi5YSZ this one] was seen at {{Wikipedia|CERN}}). Others imagine a [http://xkcdsw.com/3968 future] when the rover is not alone any more.
 
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}

Latest revision as of 07:32, 29 May 2023

Spirit
On January 26th, 2274 Mars days into the mission, NASA declared Spirit a 'stationary research station' expected to stay operational for several more months until the dust buildup on its solar panels forces a final shutdown.
Title text: On January 26th, 2274 Mars days into the mission, NASA declared Spirit a 'stationary research station' expected to stay operational for several more months until the dust buildup on its solar panels forces a final shutdown.

Explanation[edit]

This comic explores what the Spirit rover's life would be like if it had a human personality. The rover lasted 5¼ active years on the Martian surface, far exceeding its expected mission duration of 90 Martian days. A sentient robot might assume that after its initially planned 90 Martian day mission was over, it would get to return home. This assumes, of course, that the rover never understood that the mission was a one-way trip, and that the expectation was that it would simply fail after ninety days. When no one comes to return it home, Spirit, possibly in a pun on its name, keeps its hopes alive while continuously analyzing rock after rock for years.

It would be cruelty of the absolute worst kind to abandon a human on an uninhabited planet with no intention of ever bringing them home,[citation needed] so it's horrifying when we see the rover in this way. It's a relief to us that the Spirit rover is just a programmed machine.

Opportunity, the rover's twin, lasted longer than Spirit and was shut down in February 2019 (2111: Opportunity Rover). More than five years after this comic, when Opportunity had passed a Marathon distance, Randall celebrated this rover with the comic 1504: Opportunity.

The title text has an apparent miscount: January 26, 2010, is more like sol (Martian day) 2156 by JPL's mission status site, not 2274.

The final contact with Spirit was on sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).

Alternative versions

The strip had a strong emotional impact on the fans of the rover, who created a number of alternative versions and endings for it.

In a blog post Randall mentioned this upbeat rewrite of the comic. Several others were made, including a silent one.

Many alternative endings were also proposed: some are sad, some sarcastic, some romantic, some look forward to the day when Spirit is finally recovered (this one was seen somewhere at CERN). Others imagine a future when the rover is not alone any more.

Transcript[edit]

[The Spirit rover is on the surface of Mars.]
Day 1 of 90
Spirit (thinking): 89 days to go!
Day 88 of 90
Spirit (thinking): Two days until I go home!
Day 91 of 90
Spirit (thinking): ?
Day 103 of 90
Spirit (thinking): Maybe I didn't do a good enough job.
Day 127 of 90
Spirit (thinking): Maybe if I do a good enough job, they'll let me come home.
Day 857 of 90
Spirit (thinking): I thought I analyzed that rock really well.
Spirit (thinking): It's okay, I'll do the next one better.
Day 1328 of 90
Spirit (thinking): Sandstorm. Power dying.
Spirit (thinking): But a good rover would keep going. A good rover like they wanted.
Day 1944 of 90
Spirit (thinking): Oh no.
whirrrr
Spirit (thinking): I'm stuck.
whirrrr
Spirit (thinking): Did I do a good job?
Spirit (thinking): Do I get to come home?
Spirit (thinking): Guys?
[Spirit rests in the middle of a vast Martian landscape.]


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Discussion

Uhh, I'm laughing on this comic for almost three , but this explain is still not complete:

- the mission was not only 90 days
- Spirit did many great investigations
- that "Free Spirit" campaign should be mentioned after it did stuck in the deep sand in early 2010
- and Opportunity is a still operating companion on Mars in 2013
- there is much more..., ask Randall!--Dgbrt (talk) 21:19, 10 June 2013 (UTC)

Do you guys really not see all the typos in this? not even the one in the first comment? -- 180.94.92.234 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

You see a problem? Fix it. Click "Edit" at the top and help improve the article! There is nothing you can do that can't be reversed with a few mouse clicks, so don't worry about messing things up. NealCruco (talk) 02:49, 10 August 2014 (UTC)

I just feel :'( SilverMagpie (talk) 03:38, 4 April 2017 (UTC)

I have no idea, but this particular comic makes me sad. Truly a tearjerker...Boeing-787lover 16:36, 19 May 2018 (UTC) -- Xkcdreader52 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Same. I'm going through all the comics reverse-chronologically and damn these last few ones have hit hard. 172.70.93.43 07:42, 11 February 2023 (UTC)


You folks do know about Spiritrover's LJ, right? Opportunity was Opportunitygrrl, and there was also Fuse-sat. Yngvadottir (talk) 21:41, 22 October 2018 (UTC)


How is everyone laughing about this I think its very sad and depressing :(. I HAVE NO NAME (talk) 07:58, 20 August 2024 (UTC)

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