Editing 695: Spirit

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| 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.
 
| 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.
 
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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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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{{incomplete}}
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{{w|Anthropomorphism}} 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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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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{{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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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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The {{w|Spirit rover|Mars Spirit 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 sentient robots from fiction, such as Johnny 5 from ''{{w|Short Circuit (film)|Short Circuit}}'', or {{w|WALL-E}} from the film with the same name.
  
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The final contact with ''Spirit'' was on sol 2210 (March 22, 2010).
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Thus, this comic explores what the Spirit rover's life would be like if it were sentient like those robots. The rover was never intended to return to Earth, and lasted 5 1/4 active years on the Martian surface, far exceeding its mission duration of 90 Martian days. A sentient robot might assume that after his initially planed 90 {{w|Timekeeping on Mars|Martian day}} mission was over, he'd get to return home. So, heartbreakingly this did not happen, Spirit keep his hopes alive as he continues analyzing rock after rock for ''years.''
  
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;Alternative versions
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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.
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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.
 
  
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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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==Trivia==
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As in June 2013 her sister rover {{w|Opportunity rover|Opportunity}} still investigates the Mars surface. But Spirit is lost. And since August 2012 a much more modern rover {{w|Curiosity (rover)|Curiosity}} is doing it's job on Mars surface.
  
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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.
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The never "come back home" stories (unlike as Spirit was hoping for) get reality for people joining this dubious projects {{w|Mars One}} or {{w|Mars to Stay}}. They maybe will stuck like Spirit.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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:[The ''Spirit'' rover is on the surface of Mars.]
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:[The Spirit rover is on the surface of Mars.]
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:Day 1 of 90
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:Spirit (thinking): 89 days to go!
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): 89 days to go!
 
  
 
:Day 88 of 90
 
:Day 88 of 90
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): Two days until I go home!
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:Spirit (thinking): Two days until I go home!
  
 
:Day 91 of 90
 
:Day 91 of 90
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): ?
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:Spirit (thinking): ?
  
 
:Day 103 of 90
 
:Day 103 of 90
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): Maybe I didn't do a good enough job.
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:Spirit (thinking): Maybe I didn't do a good enough job.
  
 
:Day 127 of 90
 
:Day 127 of 90
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): Maybe if I do a good enough job, they'll let me come home.
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:Spirit (thinking): Maybe if I do a good enough job, they'll let me come home.
  
 
:Day 857 of 90
 
:Day 857 of 90
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): I thought I analyzed that rock really well.
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:Spirit (thinking): I thought I analyzed that rock really well.
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): It's okay, I'll do the next one better.
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:Spirit (thinking): It's okay, I'll do the next one better.
  
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:Day 1328 of 90
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:Day 1293 of 90
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): Sandstorm. Power dying.
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:Spirit (thinking): Sandstorm. Power dying.
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): But a good rover would keep going. A good rover like they wanted.
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:Spirit (thinking): But a good rover would keep going. A good rover like they wanted.
  
 
:Day 1944 of 90
 
:Day 1944 of 90
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): Oh no.
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:Spirit (thinking): Oh no.
 
:''whirrrr''
 
:''whirrrr''
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): I'm stuck.
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:Spirit (thinking): I'm stuck.
 
:''whirrrr''
 
:''whirrrr''
  
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): Did I do a good job?
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:Spirit (thinking): Did I do a good job?
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): Do I get to come home?
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:Spirit (thinking): Do I get to come home?
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:''Spirit'' (thinking): Guys?
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:Spirit (thinking): Guys?
  
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:[''Spirit'' rests in the middle of a vast Martian landscape.]
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:[Spirit rests in the middle of a vast Martian landscape.]
  
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
[[Category:Comics with color]]
 
[[Category:Comics with color]]
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[[Category:Mars rovers]]
 
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[[Category:Science]]
 
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[[Category:Artificial Intelligence]]
 

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