Editing 695: Spirit

{{comic
| number    =695
| date      =January 29, 2010
| title     =Lack Of Spirit
| image     =spirit.png
| titletext =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==
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.'' 

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.

{{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]].

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.

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 [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.

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==
:[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.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Mars rovers]]
[[Category:Science]]
[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]