Today's Mars Image of Mars is another photo with a lot of meaning. This photo was taken on Sol 30 of Mars Explorarion Rover Opportunity's exploration of the Martian surface. It was found, colored, and enhanced at The Road to Endeavour blog.
When Mars Exploration Rover's Spirit and Opportunity were being created the MER team wanted to pay tribute to those 2,977 lost during the 9/11 attacks, but how could they do that when their greatest achievement would be millions of miles away on Mars? It was decided that both rovers would contain pieces of the wreckage from the Twin Towers and that they would bear them forth to a new world, Mars. The pieces were shaped into rectangular plate covers for cables and placed on the robotic arm of each rover. These plate covers are marked with the American flag.
These small plate covers also symbolize human polarity. There will always be evil acts committed by members of our species, but there will also be magnificent achievements made, like the Mars travel and subsequent exploration that is happening every day. 9/11 will always be remembered, on two planets, not just one.
 |
| This image links to the original hi-res, colored image from The Road to Endeavour. |
0 comments:
Post a Comment