"My battery is low and it's getting dark." These are the last words, the last message to NASA, that the Mars rover, Opportunity sent back to earth shortly before it went offline during a massive sandstorm. The sandstorm was so big, it swept around the planet. NASA said it was the most ferocious sandstorm they had seen. While these words aren't exactly what was said, it was probably something like "Battery x%, Light level low." the meaning is still there. Whatever it sent it was more computer and less human.
The Opportunity rover landed on Mars in 2004 alongside its sister rover Spirit. They were sent to study the surface and geology of Mars. While both completed their primary 90 day mission, Spirit died a few years later in 2010. Opportunity kept on working for another 8 more years. It holds the record for the longest distance traveled by an off-earth wheeled vehicle with a distance of 28 miles. Over the years, it sent back tons of data about Mars. It showed us pictures of the first intact meteor found near the landing area of the heat shield for the lander. And much more. 14 years and 46 days (more than 55 times longer than designed) Opportunity sent its final message back to earth. While attempts continued for months, NASA finally declared Opportunity dead on February 13th of this year.
While the end of a mission that long is sure a sad thing, I think the last words of this rover will be some that last in the hearts and minds of people for years to come. While it was in reality just a message sent updating NASA of its status, not that much unlike people posting that they are eating, these words hit the hearts of many nerds and science lovers around the world. It is very easy to put human feelings to this machine. It lived its life hundreds of miles from its sibling and millions of miles from its home, Opportunity worked diligently for 14 years giving scientists much to study.
It is much like a story setting here, the underdog rover did its job and so much more until the very end. Slowly heading down the western slope of Perseverance Valley, as the storm grew bigger and bigger, it sends a final message to its parents, "My battery is low and it's getting dark." A fitting place to rest in peace for this incredible rover, in a valley named for something it did naturally.
I will admit, the last message made me tear right up. It still does. At once it is a message home, a cry of loneliness, and an honest feeling when we stop and think about our own mortality. We all know that someday we will die. It is easy to feel alone, feel scared. I know I have mentioned being scared of the dark before, but mostly I joke about it, but what I really do feel very scared about is my own death.
I cannot help but have a few doubts that pop into my head. What if I am wrong? What if I did not do enough? What if there is nothing? What if I have to do all this again? When ever I think this way, I have to stop and pray. I need God to come and hold my hand when I am afraid.
Now I completely believe in a Creator who has made all there is, and keeps it going by his will alone. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Creator in flesh to bring us back to himself. Of this I have no doubt of who God is. Sometimes I have doubt if he cares about us and other things of this sort, but I never doubt that He is there. And if he is there, and Jesus is his son, then whatever doubts come my way, I have an answer for.
This is what I think of when I read those last words, "My battery is low and it's getting dark." I think of a single lonely cry in the darkness, of a lost and sad soul hurting for comfort. I think of my death, my end. I think of sadness and pain. Then I think of God. Then I feel a peace in that I can mange to deal with it all. I will continue to go on, and maybe someday at my end, when I am descending my own Perseverance Valley, I can offer some words to those that I leave behind that will make them hurt, cry, fear, love more, be comforted and smile. That they can take comfort in knowing that there is so much more for us in store. That no matter how devastating the storm is, even if we do not make it through, all that we leave behind, all the friends and family, it was all worth it, and what we look forward to is even better.
