Opportunity. Here she is!
Right here, right now, I'm just going to say it: I have many loves.
.. and a new one, recently discovered, too.
I met her, Opportunity, above... well, that's not her. That's MER- not A, Spirit, or B, Opportunity a decade ago. Well, her earthbound sister triplet. Actually, only her PR version. The Earth-bound Mars analogue doesn't really leave the house much, to keep it in pristine Mars-like condition.
But, this isn't about the Mars Exploration Rover - B so much as her namesake, Opportunity.
Opportunity, the 400 pound, 185 kg explorer was launched in July of 2003, and landed in Meridiani Planum in January of 2004. She touched down three weeks after her twin Spirit (MER-A) touched down on the Red planet, our Earth's own sister.
Opportunity was designed for a 90 day mission. Some 5109 SOLS later (5249 earth days, cause Mars is longer days than earth by 37 minutes, she's driven 45 kilometers, mostly by preprogrammed trips emailed to her. Check her out here
'Cause we came out of the cave,
and we looked over the hill and we saw fire;
and we crossed the ocean and we pioneered the west,
and we took to the sky.
The history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration
and this is what's next.
- Sam Seaborn
Opportunity means What's Next?
I love that. I love that it isn't defined.
I love that it is open ended and we get to define it.
For me, it is about exploring the world around us, caring for it, and each other.
It is about exploring the people around us, and caring for them, too.
The sense of wonder as we go out into the greater universe, and find out
What's next?
...that's Opportunity.