Through the Eyes of a Mars Rover
by Ashley Diaz
Well I'm done, I am the Mars Rover. They are setting me up to leave tomorrow. I am scared. I don't know if I will blow up taking off or have a crash landing! I'm really excited though, to be up there in the stars. They, as in whoever made me, are really nice guys. Anyway they programmed all this stuff about stars, planets and moons, and to see them up close that's going to be something else...5...4...3...2...1, BLAST OFF! !
I am going and going and going and ... Stop. After all that pressure I feel as light as, you know those one things, Oh yeah, a feather. It's amazing up here like swimming in the sea. Oh what a sea it is, now to find where I am going, hmm. Aw there's Mars now, to get there is like swimming across a pool. The launch was brutal on my equipment. Well it's better than being dead.
So far there is nothing here, it's really scary, but oh, I saw the Earth, oh what a sight it was. If I was a human it would have taken my breath away. The clouds on the earth gave it a blue cream color, like a marble. Oh what a sight. On the other side of Mars was Jupiter, oh how amazing it was, the orange, the white and the tan. I could also see the eye of Jupiter which is a hurricane that has been there for almost forever. Wow it's amazing up here, unbelievable. Wow what a sight. And the stars you will never see them glow brighter than up here. Well I better start looking around on Mars, I have a mission.
I have seen many rocks but nothing real exciting. The other night I saw a comet fly by. It was spectacular.
It's been 3-1/2 years now. My equipment is starting to age and get worn out but 1 could still keep going for many years. Something strange happened the other night. 1 was recording information on past information on Mars and I saw something in the distance. Then I went to see what it was.
Oh my gosh, it was another Mars Rover that looked just like me. It was also launched the same day as me. We went exploring and found a patch of pure silica. It could have come from a hot spring environment or an environment called fumaroles, in which acid steam rises through cracks. This is probably the most significant discovery so far. Wow the boys back home will be proud of us.
I think there has been water up here before. From all the evidence. The other rover has done really well, too. Not much of a talker though. He is really into this I can tell. It's all about work for him not just looking at the view.
Well I saw Earth again; it gets more and more spectacular every time I see it, although there are storm clouds over California, really gray clouds. I think I should take a picture, click, click and click. I should get back to work. There are a lot of rocks here. I recorded information on dust devils today, who knew they had them. I also ran into the other rover, he picked up information of an old lake. I knew it, there has been water here.
But what confuses me is where it all went. I haven't seen any water since I have been here. Today I found something amazing, a real water spring. I just need to send the information home and I will be sent back in a couple of weeks, I can't wait. My mission is still to get as much information as I can.
Oh, how exciting it's been up here. I continue to search for dust devils... Oh I see one. I am getting data then I am on my way home. My navigation system has broken and I am going to have to find my way by myself and... I am falling into a huge crater and unfortunately this is the last time I will be talking to you so...
He dies in a sudden crash at the bottom of the crater. Even though he died the mission was not a failure. In reality today both rovers are still up and running. They are planning to extend the mission until 2009. Who knows what else they will find, or who they will find.