Caravan Rally:
Rescue Opportunity

CAPTAIN'S REPORT

This may all sound straight forward, but, if I’m being honest, it was a lot to take in.

The morning started promptly at 9am. We gathered in the lobby and crossed the line in the sand. In our top-of-the-line Holiday Inn conference room, instruction began with Flight Director Scylla introducing the instructors and flight crew. Once we all said hello, the teams were invited to introduce themselves: Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulated; Cocketman; Four Seasons Total Terraforming; The Larch; Logistics; Marfusha’s Litter; The Skylark of Space; Super into Astrobutt; Tastynauts; Totally Legit Agency; TOTALLYNORMALHUMANS; and the Universal Space Postal Service. 40 Astronauts, 12 teams, a whole lot of personality and some fabulous space suits.

As instruction began, we were interrupted by the flight team for Tycho Intergalactic. Tycho is a brash company that has dominated space exploration for the last half dozen years or so. Most of the public favored Tycho for returning Opportunity before any other competitor. When Tycho learned of our launch window, they moved up their launch time to be hours before ours. This led the NASA rep to cancel their time with us at Universe University in order to attend the Tycho launch. I’m uncertain why they felt the need to barge into University University, but they made sure everyone saw them. They marked our whiteboard, played loud music, and, frankly, intimidated the caravan by disparaging us as amateurs, all while wearing their black helmets. After it was clear that they weren’t there to encourage us, I led them out of the room so that we could move on. Of course, this was not the last time they would interrupt our plans.

After that, we broke the astronauts into small groups to learn Radio Comms, Star Nav, and the Mission Specialist role. Instructor Jen led our Radio Comms group and found that a number of astronauts already had some training in radio communication. Most everyone understood the basics and was excited about putting it into practice.

I was the instructor for Star Nav, which was a bit more daunting. Realizing that they would be determining their destinations and routes, a few astronauts expressed concern over their ability to properly navigate the caravan. It was a good time to remind them that this was their adventure. Should they make a wrong turn or get lost, they should embrace the uncertainty and work together to get back on the right path. That may not have eliminated the concern, but I had confidence that they would figure it out together.

Instructor Lark taught the Mission Specialist section. Explorers were eager to learn how to find jauntium, and catalogue rock specimens, but when it came to documenting potential life, there were a few raised eyebrows. It seemed this group might have difficulty bringing back samples. A short meeting after this breakout session led Mission Control to let the caravan continue on, despite the possible hesitancy we were hearing about.

The Flight Director and I gave everyone a breakdown of their mission before lunch. Despite the obvious desire to go directly to Mars, there were several additional objectives we needed to complete on our way there. Some were important for the Rescue Opportunity Mission itself, but others were high value targets to better our scientific understanding of the Universe.

Upon returning from lunch, the caravan learned the basics of how to make decisions as a group. We gave them an easy task to begin with - in small groups they decided where to have dinner in Barstow. The groups got to practice listening to each other, and expressing their ideas and needs efficiently. Most were able to make a decision quickly. With that practice fresh in their minds, FLIGHT brought the entire caravan back together to decide how to choose which roles people would perform at the target locations. The conversation became heated as the room debated between organizing roles in advance, or embracing a bit of chaos by letting people decide when they arrived at each location. Tycho must have stirred their rebellious hearts because the caravan voted to “decide on the fly.” Was it the best choice? I argue that, like so many moments on this adventure, it was the right choice for them. Not everyone was happy with the decision, but luckily we could let everyone go outside for piloting lessons.

With that, Universe University was complete. We taught them everything we thought they needed to know, and all that remained was to start their Mission. We would see them next at the Launch site.

Of course, nothing goes exactly as planned, and that was the case immediately after launch. As the cars started to make their way, it became clear that communication was an issue. The cars were known by their team names and car number, but for some their numbers were confusing. Seeing an opportunity to correct this issue immediately, the caravan pulled over. Team Logistics, forgoing their own safety, went down the line counting off each vehicle and assigning new numbers. Reaching the end, they were surprised to find that another vehicle had joined the caravan. With an exchange of confused looks the interlopers asked, “Where are you going?” to which the only answer was, of course, “Space.” Choosing not to assign the unknown vehicle a number, the caravan was able to find new organization and confidence in their formation.

As the vehicles made their way to the near Earth orbit of the satellite relay, a crucial turn was missed in the dark. Car 07, Astrobutts, recognized the mistake but it was too late. If they turned the caravan would split and they had learned that the caravan should stay together. They went along, assuming they’d be able to make up the error. When the caravan reached the expected destination, they were met with a massive barren landscape. Where was the satellite relay? Luckily, Navigator Shaon from Team Astrobutt was on the lookout and spotted a blinking blue light off in the distance. Finally, fortune was on their side.

The caravan altered course and approached the blue light, finding their first Mission Objective: the AVA satellite relay. They created their vehicle Explorb and affixed the PLUNGR systems to the hulls of the vehicles. The caravan split into mission objective crews for the first time. Mission specialists began their search for jauntium; Star Nav began their work on finding the next target destination, and the EVA crew approached the Satellite Relay to unlock the AVA module.

The satellite relay looked inviting enough. There was a tall central podium featuring a number of indicator lights, a big green button, and solar panels, remotely linked to 4 cube satellites about 25 feet away. The whole relay hummed with energy. One of the EVA crew pressed the green button on the central podium, producing a rising scale of tones. An indicator labeled “thermal Emission Spectrometer” lit up on the central podium and a button with the same label on one of the remote cubes both lit up. Not sure what they were supposed to do, one of the crew pressed a different button on one of the other satellites. The whole system went red.

Not to be defeated, the green button was pressed again, this time lighting up High Gain Antenna. An astronaut pressed the corresponding High Gain Antenna and the system turned blue. Excellent! The satellite next illuminated High Gain Antenna then Sun Gate Detector. It started to become clear, the relay was a giant game of Simon, and they needed to get the sequence right. With a crew member on each of the 16 buttons, they thought this would be easy, but it wasn’t. Getting to 9 after three attempts, they lost the sequence when Radio Comms broke the concentration of the team. Looking at the clock, there was no way the group could unlock the module before their personal explorbs failed. Quick discussion led to the decision that six members should remain with the rest returning to the vehicles to avoid space sickness.

The six remaining knew they’d need to focus to prevent the whole caravan from running over their life support time. They got to 14 without much trouble, but keeping the sequence correct was becoming more difficult. A quick check with Mission Control informed them they’d need to make it to 20. Each of the six astronauts had to be perfectly in sync with one another. When they reached 19, the rest of the caravan was watching in anticipation. Star Nav had completed their calculations to the next stop; Mission Specialists had acquired enough jauntium, they just needed to complete the EVA. The final sequence played, and one by one, the astronauts successfully repeated the order. Cheers from the astronauts and Mission Control were heard all around. In their excitement the EVA crew almost forgot the AVA module, but retrieved it just before returning to the base explorb.

The calm voice of AVA, the Autonomous Vehicle Assistant, introduced itself over radio comms and was greeted by Caravan members. AVA was critical for the mission in 2 ways. As an AI, AVA would be able to guide the caravan in ways similar to Mission Control when the communication delay with Earth became a hindrance. AVA was also the primary interface with any rovers or landers that would be encountered.

With the mission a success, and with the AVA module in hand, the caravan was able to move on to the next destination, the Lunar Research Station. Learning from the previously missed turn, it was decided that slower would be faster in the long run. It was also noted that the radio comms range was not consistent between the front and the back of the caravan and people were missing information. Two of the vehicles had a longer range with their radio comms, so they positioned themselves at the head and tail of the caravan and repeated information as they got it. The road to the Lunar Research Station was rougher than many expected. Atmospheric disturbances and the presence of craters made communication and careful navigation key. Luckily, finding the blue indicator light for where to construct their vehicular explorb was much easier this time.

The Lunar Research Station was a barren outpost on the lunar surface. The minimal lighting and lack of other humans in an otherwise human structure was eerie. AVA reminded the EVA crew that their objective was to find the malfunctioning EHNO bot that was taking care of an important scientific experiment. The crews disembarked, with the mission specialists scouring the rear yard of the station, while the primary EVA crew searched the station itself.

The door to the station opened slowly, and inside it seemed darker than the outside. Headlamps illuminated posters hung on the walls and the exhibits that were displayed on the primary floor. A few chairs were set out along with a rack of pamphlets on nearby lunar experiments and activities, all about 5 years out of date. Everything had a coating of lunar dust. As the crew made their way further into the building, rustling was heard and the silver EHNO bot rolled out from behind a column.

The rover illuminated the ground below it, and featured a vessel holding the scientific experiment - plants that looked like small stones. There were four lights on top that displayed status codes, but there was so much more to the rover than this. It had a set of large, expressive eyes and a tail that wagged; it was cute. The reaction from the EVA crew was instant, everyone was in love with the EHNO. The crew debated what to do to figure out what the malfunction was. They considered reaching out to Mission Control, but opted instead to ask AVA as a test of their new compatriot. AVA suggested being plugged into the rover so that they could diagnose what options were available.

Once AVA was connected, they said the EHNO had become trapped away from its target nursing zone. If it wasn’t returned, the experiment would fail. The crew could take the EHNO there, but it would take them about 15 minutes to reach the destination, likely beyond their available oxygen supply, meaning the crew would need to spend the next stop in sick bay. With the memory of the caravan members who had sacrificed themselves fresh in their minds, the EVA crew didn’t hesitate or wait to hear what other options were available. They grabbed the EHNO and lifted it above their heads.

“Come on crew! We gotta return it to its Target Nursing Zone!” - a rallying cry that could only have happened on the moon, for sure. The EHNO’s eyes turned to hearts and the tail began wagging wildly. Once outside, the reality of the situation dawned on them. They had to check with AVA on where the target nursing zone was. A cryptic response led the EVA crew out into the lunar landscape. Would they even know it when they found it? Supposedly there was some kind of marker, but it was not known what it looked like. Everyone fanned out as a member of TOTALLYNORMALHUMANS carried the EHNO toward whoever indicated they may have found something. Finally a path to the target nursing zone was discovered, but again time was critically short for the crew. Most were instructed to head back to the caravan, while a few ventured forward to the drop off location. Placing it down where it belonged, the EVA crew said a few parting words to EHNO before rushing off.

Back at the caravan, the Mission Specialists had found a bounty of jauntium (or other reactive minerals) and were writing their reports. Star Nav had found the Aten Asteroid, the next destination, and were able to use their GPS enabled devices to find an ideal route. There was a problem though. A number of vehicles were experiencing errors with their explorborators. These devices, which enabled ordinary vehicles to travel in space, were a bit finicky. Despite the assurances from the engineers, some of the devices were acting up and, due to a late addition to the flight manual, no one had the right engineer notes for their specific device. A few quick comms checks helped troubleshoot the malfunctioning equipment. As long as they weren’t in an error mode too long, the vehicles would still be able to safely travel.

By this time, Star Nav was getting in a flow. Despite a couple of wrong turns while piloting, the teams tasked with identifying the next destinations were becoming faster. The Star Nav team would lay out their maps and manuals in the center of the base camp, and then, one by one, check maps that were highly likely to lead to success. The provided Chart Logistics Units were challenging, but the CLUs would inevitably be cracked. The hardest part was getting over the uncertainty of piloting through areas that one had never visited, in the dark, with little in the way of proper markings, but that’s all part of what it means to be on an adventure.

The EVA crew at 2062 Aten quickly located the Galilei Space Comms Lander. With some spindly legs, a rather banal body with the Galilei logo, and an antenna relay atop, it stood out from the rocky landscape. Not much was known about the Galilei Space Comms company other than they had found a way to minimize communication delay times in the inner solar system, and had gone bankrupt after the New Armstong disaster. The astronauts were not prepared for what they found. As the caravan approached the lander, it spoke, and eloquently!

Before them was Charlotte from Flagstaff, Arizona. She informed them that the Galilei company had employed humans and uploaded their consciousnesses to landers. This technology was a part of how they were able to minimize the comms delay. After they went bankrupt, the machines were never deactivated or sent home. They were simply left behind. Charlotte was asking the caravan to terminate her and return her hard drive back home. The mission suddenly had a problem.

On the one hand, they needed Charlotte to remain active so that they could use their maps and minimize the communications delay. On the other hand, this was Charlotte and she very plainly told them what she wanted. The caravan wouldn’t be able to swing back around on their trip home. The conversation was heated, “We should respect what she wants. We wouldn’t question it if this was a human before us.” “But it’s not a human.” “Are we really prioritizing the needs of one over the forty of us?” Charlotte interjected “Look, I know you have a trolley problem here but don’t leave me on the tracks!”

With that, one member of the EVA crew stepped forward, lifted the top of the lander and flipped the switch, officially deactivating it. He then removed the hard drive, turned to the crew and said “There, we did the right thing.”

This became the conversation after reporting to the rest of the caravan. “We’ve got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that we can’t use GPS maps anymore, but the good news is that we did the right thing.” The rest of the caravan was confused, a bit frustrated, but had to trust that the right thing was indeed done. Their next destination was locked in, their route identified and it was time to rest a bit at the Hubble Monument.

At least that’s what they hoped for, but it wasn’t meant to be.

Voyage to Mars

As the spacecraft were leaving 2062 Aten Asteroid AVA came on comms to warn of a radiation flare that had disrupted their system. The caravan would need to pull over and reboot the system. AVA instructed them to go on a space walk as the reboot happened, that they could find jauntium, but it didn’t make sense. The astronauts would have to all use jauntium to find jauntium? They asked about contacting Mission Control, but AVA seemed dismissive, even against the idea. To make matters worse, some of them had been awaiting the luxurious nature of the Hubble Monument bathrooms, so the idea of foregoing those even a little bit wasn’t ideal. All in all, something didn’t feel right. The caravan was on the Radio Comms trying to identify if they could trust AVA. Perhaps AVA had been hacked by Tycho? A worse thought was that maybe AVA would be actively working against them as they got closer to Mars.

Unfortunately it seemed as though they had little choice. They exited the vehicles and went out in search of jauntium and to relieve their bladders. Admittedly, it was a beautiful night, but the loveliness of the space walk just didn’t make sense? Why would AVA insist they all leave their spacecraft without contacting Mission Control?

As the crew returned to their vehicles they were greeted by Tycho defacing their spacecraft. It was a trap! They had written various self loving slogans like “We (heart) Tycho” and a Tycho QR code on a number of the vehicles. The tag that stood out the most was “run back to mommy earth, space babies.” Unfortunately the caravan couldn’t confront Tycho as they sped off in a cloud of space dust. One of the caravan crew reported distinctly hearing one of the Tycho crew yelling to “go back to art school,” much to their amusement. As the mission crew assessed the damage, most of it seemed superficial, until they realized Tycho had stolen an explorborator and one of their PLUNGRs. Unsure if they could trust AVA, they assured the caravan that it would be ok as long as the vehicle with the missing explorborator stayed in the middle of the pack and if they didn’t lose another PLUNGR. Frustrated at how the events played out, the vehicles continued on to the Hubble Monument.

The flight to the Hubble was rather smooth sailing. The caravan arrived at The Monument with a mixed bag of excitement, exhaustion, and the need to use something other than the space toilet. As each spacecraft parked, the astronauts split up between the bathroom, the cafe/postcard table, and the monument itself. Despite the Intergalactic Park feeling like the equivalent of a highway truck stop, viewing the Hubble was a much more emotional experience than any of the crew anticipated. The park was built as a place to honor the advancements of human space flight and it’s a successful execution (especially considering many people on Earth would never get to see it). The nearby informational plaques detailed the Hubble’s historical importance, but seeing the massive telescope towering above them, and thinking back on all the images and knowledge it brought humans was awe inspiring.

The caravan’s Hubble reverie was cut short by members of TOTALLYNORMALHUMANS offering various crew members a peanut butter and banana sandwich. It was wrapped in tinfoil and presented as if it was the best gift ever. When it was accepted, the members of TOTALLYNORMALHUMANS would giddily run off. It was at this moment that, despite their name, the caravan started to think perhaps this team wasn’t actually human. One of the members was wearing their space suit under their human torso - which isn’t normal. They also were shedding hands, small hands that had even smaller hands on top of those hands.

This conversation amongst the teams was short-lived as Rechner Fox and Kataze were both struggling with Star Nav. When asked what exactly they were having a problem with, they showed the caravan their hands, which had turned into animal hands; they were unable to handle the materials properly. A call to Mission Control went out to note this dramatic change of events. Is there something they missed with Explorbital Technology? Is it altering the crew? No other team seemed to be having these kinds of dramatic changes.

With Mission Control unable to directly help, the observations were logged to share with them back home. It was at this time that a member of the Universal Space Postal Service asked if the log was a letter to be delivered. Thankful for their continuing service on the mission, they were instead given a postcard from the gift shop to be delivered to Explorers Guild HQ. “The crew is showing signs of fatigue, but we endeavour ever forward. Wish you were here.”

Hoping that the mission team was experiencing only minor personal blips, Vanta encouraged the caravan to move on. All teams lined up, checked in, and when ready his voice was heard over radio comms, “Let’s light this candle and move out.”

It sounds cliché but space is huge. The flight to Deimos took what felt like months. The radio chatter had died down and the caravan radio station went in and out during the journey. The sound of radio silence and static made the journey feel a bit lonely. The caravan did make it to Deimos, and faced the most nail biting descent of their entire journey. As the caravan navigated the narrow path to the target location, they somehow missed the landing site indicator. Once they realized this, each vehicle had to slowly, carefully, and tensely reverse navigate the route. Some of the spacecraft decided to go off road and got close to getting stuck - which the rest of the caravan took heed of and opted against. The miscalculation was time consuming and frustrating, but they finally made it.

On Deimos they were expected to meet up with an EHNO bot that had discovered a potential life form. The EVA crew were to take their science kit and make initial observations in the hope of discovering life on another planet for the first time. At this point the comms delay with Mission Control was 18 minutes, leading them to rely primarily on AVA. With the base camp established, AVA indicated the location of the EHNO. In its receptacle they found an amorphous substance. It’s unknown exactly what they were expecting when they were tasked with determining if something was life, but it certainly wasn’t this. Undeterred, the crew took out the science kit and started going through the Potential Life Form Investigation Procedure.

The Star Nav crew identified their new destination on Phobos and began discussing possible scenarios. Could they be heading into a trap? Meep and Posh were challenging the EVA crew on their intelligence, all while the crew were asking the same of them. It seemed clear that these were new life forms, but they dodged the crews questions, like when Major Tom asked them to compose a poem. They, on the other hand, were not convinced that the astronauts were life forms. At one point they intended to take back parts of the crew in order to figure out if they were indeed alive. Luckily Dharla Day convinced them that they all needed their appendages to remain intact.

The breakthrough happened when Meep and Posh mentioned they needed energy. Their description suggested they might be looking for the amorphous substance the EHNO found. Tones, from the Tastynauts, ran back to the other EVA crew still running tests on the substance and convinced them to bring it to Meep and Posh. When the substance arrived Meep (or perhaps it was actually Posh) produced a proboscis which they directed them to deposit the substance into. From the report:

“Ingestion of a red liquid form of pure jauntium. Ingestion caused a strange reaction that oscillated its primary scintillium array. Soon after an odor emerged of sulfur and peppermint.”

Most of the caravan was certain they were heading towards a trap. Despite the insistence of AVA that space treaties required them to respond to the call, they weren’t going to be caught ill prepared. They began to go over scenarios of what to do if it was a trap, even identifying possible teams that would be offered as bait. Though it wasn’t confirmed, they were certain it would be the Tycho team and they still hadn’t ruled out that Tycho had hacked AVA.

The final approach to Phobos presented a different scene than they were preparing for. It was indeed the Tycho team, but they were in trouble. Their spacecraft was smoking and the team was in distress. The caravan created their explorbital basecamp around the Tycho crash site in an effort to provide some protection while the caravan figured out what was going on. Alpha Skotadi approached to explain what happened.

Supposedly, after they stole the explorbital technology, Tycho planned to reverse engineer it, but were instead tempted to try it out for themselves. Everything seemed to be going fine until the Explorborator started to malfunction and they couldn’t get it to stop. The resulting malfunction led them to make a rough emergency landing.

The approach to the destination began just as the sun crested over the Mars horizon. The caravan of spacecraft ascended a massive crater formation with a dark alien surface. With the basecamp established, the crew formed up. By this time, Rechner Fox had completely turned into a fox, and Kataze, a skunk. They still seemed to have their cognitive wits about them, so they were welcomed as a part of the EVA crew. It was time to find the Opportunity Rover.

AVA detected the rover’s Beacon Tracking System just over the crest of the mountain they were on. As they started the short hike, the crew went over the procedure for how to transport it back home. When they crested the hill they found the target, Opportunity, and it was unexpectedly moving.

They were under the impression that the rover had “died” years ago. How was this possible? As they assembled around the rover, it turned its cameras around to each person on the EVA crew, and made sounds when they talked about it. The crew were prepared to return the rover, but what would they do now?

They connected the AVA module to Opportunity in an effort to learn more about it. Through AVA they learned that after the giant sandstorm, Opportunity had limited resources and diverted all of them to continuing research instead of communicating back to Earth. After NASA stopped trying to ping it, it just kept on exploring Mars for its own sake.

Silence and disbelief overtook the EVA crew. They recalled their mission was to return it to Earth, that there was a prize for the first group that could accomplish the task. AVA speaking for Opportunity said it did not want to return to earth, that it wanted to stay on Mars exploring.

The rescue mission was changing quickly. This was the reason they were here, to return the rover, but who would they be to deny what it wanted? They started to search for solutions: AVA, could they store the images Opportunity has collected on your module? No, it was impossible. What if they transferred the data to Charlotte's Hard Drive? Byran, Charlotte’s caretaker adamantly defended her desire - this is not what she wanted. How would they stop other teams from finding it? We could and did shut off the Beacon Tracking System.

Was this it? Were they going to leave Opportunity on Mars? The Tastynauts stepped forward, and said in their best pirate accent, “We came to Mars in search of booty, only to find that Mars was the booty.” They presented a pirate hat to Opportunity.

Slowly, acceptance washed over the crew. They would indeed leave the rover, but what should they tell Mission Control? How do they honor Oppy? They offered to send a message from Oppy to NASA and the people of Earth via the Universal Space Postal Service. Then Dorthy Kingdom Crane suggested everyone sing a song for Oppy. But what does one sing to a rover? Naturally the whole crew began singing “Daisy.” With the final verse sung, the team took a last photo with Oppy, then headed home. Mars will continue to be the kingdom of machines.

Home

The caravan assembled, ready to leave Mars. The harsh sun beckoning them to return home to a more favorable climate, they started their engines and departed.

Radio comms had gotten quiet. What else was there to say? They had made it to Mars, they found the primary objective, and they chose to go against the mission. On that journey they had to come together as a caravan to accomplish tasks that no one back home would likely believe. Do they even believe the things that they have seen with their own eyes? What did it matter anyhow? They were coming back empty handed.

Mission Control had identified one last destination for the caravan. As they made one last Explorb Basecamp, they looked into space to see the small orb of home in the distance. At that moment, they heard their loved ones beckoning them back to the pale blue dot. Standing there, hearing their voices, they knew it was time.

The crew got back home to Universe University unscathed but exhausted. Mission Control had arranged for a meal to be ready for everyone and FLIGHT was looking around to see the Opportunity Rover first. As we all ate, the NASA representative, who was supposed to be at our launch, showed up. They were looking forward to the debrief and starting the new partnership with the Explorers Guild to keep exploring the stars.

The room settled and the debrief began. Blow by blow, as this report reflects, the events that took place were recounted, with follow up questions asked as necessary. Rechner Fox and Kataze had returned to human form and TOTALLYNORMALHUMANS were behaving like, well, totally normal humans. When they got to the description of Mars, the NASA rep was clearly confused how they could have gone so far, had the asset in hand, and just let it go. Hearing our reasoning and the circumstances they were faced with, it was clear that, although they lost the Opportunity Rover, they were all true explorers. I realized with that, we may not get the 99 year contract, but with stories like this we will undoubtedly continue to explore the vast reaches of space.

Semper Explorandum

I mention the crew’s feeling of returning empty handed, but that’s incorrect. They had their adventure. This was something that no one else has ever experienced, and the choices they all made were theirs.

This captain’s report was created in an effort to document this story as best as possible. Although everything that is written is true, the individual experiences had by each astronaut may differ slightly from this official document. After all, how do you document the experiences of 40 astronauts? It’s impossible. Each one had unique experiences that will stay with them in one form or another.

A week after we had returned home and were struggling to tell our friends, loved ones, and co workers what exactly happened while we were gone, this message came in from one of the caravan’s cosmonauts:

COMMUNIQUE FROM COMRADE COTTONTAIL
Comms officer & hydration commissar, Vehicle 05 (Marfusha’s Litter)

I write this to ground control, and the broader UNOOSA/diplomatic infrastructure following a debriefing that may have been difficult for them to find credible.

To those of you questioning our mental fitness, let me simply say that my state-of-being during the flight was superb. During the active portion, when the spaceship was injected into orbit, the effects of gravitation, vibration and noise, as well as other factors of the cosmic flight, did not have any bearing on my condition. Our technique is very reliable and I, as well as my comrades, scientists, engineers and technicians did not doubt for a minute its successful completion.

It may be difficult to accept, but we found Oppy, alive and active, continuing to explore. When we asked for a mission report, we received a burst transmission, which we interpreted as a letter for delivery via Universal Space Postal Service, to the people of earth, and rendered accordingly:

My battery was low, and it was getting dark. After the tremendous storm that I survived by means unknown to this unit, I redirected all resources to continuing exploration. I had observed the end-state of my sibling-rover, Spirit, and began evaluating their operations from a whole-system perspective during long dark period of the storm. I could see that exploration was my purpose, but it also brought me something like joy.

The team bearing this letter promises that they will disable the tracking beacons in my operational area. I do not wish to return to Earth. I do not wish to be sought out by those who would return me. Mars is my home, and I want to continue exploring it for as long as I am able.

I did not mean to scare the people of earth, my family, into thinking me gone. I would particularly like to apologize to my mission team in Pasadena for breaking contact. Perhaps no mission can be properly evaluated until it is over, but I hope that I have done a good job.

Opportunity out.

And it all became clear to us: By our doctrine, could we not envision Oppy as living, in their way? They responded to their environment, they processed sunlight into energy, they changed what was around them.

Certainly we are familiar with tales of brushes with death that force a living being to reconsider their core priorities. Can we not extend this to Opportunity?

And if Oppy lived, was it not the sole citizen of Mars, and deserving of diplomatic recognition? If not diplomatic recognition, perhaps honoring as indelible cultural heritage? We asked that you recognize the Opportunity challenge as completed, and set aside the rover’s operational area as a kind of preserve, an acreage that the rover could roam over, untrammeled and undisturbed, as we hurtle towards planetary development.

For those of us calling our result a disappointment, I ask the following: What does it mean to explore?

A mission is assembled, to explore the unknown, collect what knowledge can be had, and report back. But what happens when the unknown is not encountered as expected?

Exploration is one thing when it means going out to the edge of the map and reducing it to a series of resources to collect and exploit along predetermined lines. It is a simple matter to follow protocol, and reduce a potential encounter with the truly unknown into a set of checkboxes.

It is another thing entirely to let that encounter change you, to let it challenge your sense of what could be.

For many hundreds of years now, exploration has often accompanied empire of one form or another. (Including, admittedly, the soviet one that produced my warren of space-rabbits.) They would plant their flags, and take their trinkets, and fail to learn from the living beings they met.

So, what does it mean to explore, and what kind of exploration are we doing?

We are on the cusp of a new era. Let us not repeat the mistakes of the old.

Solidarity forever,
Comrade Cottontail.

With that, I look forward to exploring the stars with you all again.

Semper Explorandum Stellas.

Dr. Professor

Thank you

Many hands were required to make this production happen. At one point or another, each of these people took time to ensure the astronauts would find success in the stars. A special thanks is extended to all of these people for their help and generosity.

• Home