Editing 2111: Opportunity Rover

{{comic
| number    = 2111
| date      = February 13, 2019
| title     = Opportunity Rover
| image     = opportunity_rover.png
| titletext = Thanks for bringing us along.
}}

==Explanation==
This comic is a tribute to the {{w|Opportunity (rover)|Opportunity rover}} and its nearly 15 year mission in which it sent back publicly available photos and research from Mars to Earth. The evening prior to this comic uploading (Feb 12, 2019), Nasa's JPL sent their [https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/02/opportunity-did-not-answer-nasas-final-call-and-its-now-gone-to-us/ final data request] to the rover, in hopes that it would respond. When it did not, the rover was declared to be officially lost.

The comic starts with White Hat, looking at some people taking photographs and lamenting the fact that they're taking pictures all the time, saying "Kids these days...", a common complaint about younger people by their elders. This could be considered a {{w|Straw man}} argument, as White Hat is lamenting that the younger generation look at the world through their camera phones and thus don't experience it directly, and believe that they lose some of the joy of the event in the process - an opinion he has expressed previously in [[1314: Photos]].  

To this [[Randall]] appears to counter that sharing and showing to others is an exciting part of the joy, an opinion which he also expressed as [[Cueball]] in [[1314: Photos]]. He then proceeds to say that the Opportunity of exploring a completely new world is an exciting part of the exploration, and expresses joy in the fact that MER-B Opportunity was able to share its experiences in its 15-year, 45-kilometer journey on Mars with the entirety of humanity.

The comic ends by thanking the Opportunity rover (and NASA) for allowing the general public the incredible experiences it had on Mars in its 15 Earth-year lifetime, to receive the pictures and data, while traversing along hostile terrain for us. The last panel shows some "followers" which represents everyone on Earth listening to the words from the rover as it transmits the incredible experiences it had on Mars in its 15 Earth-year lifetime. Note, perhaps the reference to "dust devil" suggests these may have been the last such descriptions as that may refer to the deadly global dust storm that likely killed the rover and ended the mission. The dust-devils were also likely responsible for the amazing extended missions for both rovers as they tended to blow the accumulated dust off the solar panels.

The title text shows gratitude for the rover, which brought everyone on Earth, including Randall, along in its journey by sending images of the journey to Earth.  Also, Randall used to work at NASA (as a robotocist no less), so as much joy as it brought the world at large, it probably felt just a little more personal for him.

The Opportunity rover also appeared in [[1504: Opportunity]], while its twin rover Spirit also had a dedicated comic in [[695: Spirit]].

==Transcript==
:[White Hat is watching while Science Girl and Cueball in the background hold their smartphones up to use them as cameras. A narrator (Randall) comments with text above them:]
:Narrator: Some people complain that we see the world through our cameras.
:White Hat: Kids these days...

:[Cueball points to the left with his hand while shouting and holding his other hand up near his mouth. Again there is narrating text, both above and below this time.]
:Narrator: But for me, the really exciting part of finding something new
:Cueball: ''Wow, you gotta come see this!''
:Narrator: has always been showing it to others.

:[A black panel shows a space probe approaching a planet. White narrating text is above and below.]
:Exploring an entire new world
:would already be the adventure of a lifetime.
:Imagine having the chance to share every new sight

:[A queue of seven people is seen following a rover driving in front of them on a rock filled landscape. Its track is shown behind it. The people do not leave foot prints though. The rover speaks. At the top of the panel there is a last narrating text inside a small box across the top of the panel. The seven people are Cueball, Science Girl, Hairy (looking back), another Cueball holding his hand to his chin, Ponytail and finally Megan, who points forward.]
:Narrator: with seven billion friends.
:Rover: ...and here's a trench I dug with my wheel, and here's where a dust devil went ''right'' past me, and over there is the biggest cliff I've ever seen, and this is...

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring White Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Multiple Cueballs]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics with inverted brightness]]
[[Category:Photography]]
[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Space]]
[[Category:Kids]]