Out of This World!
Okay, consider this a public service announcement. Really, it’s just a reminder, though. Maybe you’ve forgotten. Look, here’s the deal:
RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE, ON ANOTHER PLANET IN OUR VERY OWN SOLAR SYSTEM, TWO REMOTE-CONTROLLED ROVERS ARE CONTINUING THEIR MISSIONS, DRIVING ALL OVER THE SURFACE OF AN ALIEN WORLD SEARCHING FOR ALIEN LIFE ON A DAILY BASIS.
Perhaps most astonishingly of all, they are BEAMING BACK PHOTOS FROM THE SURFACE OF OUR CLOSEST INTERPLANETARY NEIGHBOR, MARS, the RED PLANET! (Sorry for yelling, but I thought that might help.)
Talk about astonishing feats of human engineering!!
To date, there have been six rovers which have landed and operated successfully on the Martian surface: five from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and one from China. As of July 2025, there are still two active rovers looking for evidence of life on Mars:
- – Curiosity – Launched November 26, 2011
- – Perseverance – Launched July 30, 2020 (carrying the companion helicopter, Ingenuity)
The other four, including the Chinese-developed vehicle, are no longer operational.
Both Curiosity and Perseverance are car-sized rovers with similar features and goals, including:
- – Investigating Martian climate and geology
- – Searching for evidence of microbial life and water
- – Habitability studies in preparation for human exploration
As of this writing, Curiosity has been operating for over 4,700 Earth days (more than 12 years), and Perseverance for over 1,500 Earth days (more than 4 years).
Have We Forgotten How to Be Amazed?
Maybe, though, we’ve all just really forgotten how to be amazed anymore. Well, take a look at these photos taken ON THE PLANET MARS to help remind us again. (Yeah, still yelling.)
