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Comment by triptych | Hacker News Reader

Seems like they could just send a drone to go wipe off the solar panels...

I'm reminded of this entry in the wikiwiki: "Just" is a dangerous word.

http://wiki.c2.com/?JustIsaDangerousWord

I recall having a chat with someone with a poor understanding of chemistry, and they asked why we couldn't "just have tiny robots take the carbon dioxide and turn it back into gasoline again"

Did you tell them we're trying that and algae can only sink so much carbon? ;)

I think it's safe to say that person had a poor understanding of a lot of things, not just chemistry.

Seems like you might not understand how hard it is to get to Mars, and land safely. (Hint: it's very hard.)

Humor module failed to load. Retry?

You must be lost, reddit is over here: https://reddit.com

No sense of humor allowed on HN! Read the guidelines! /s

No. Once it gets too cold, sensitive parts start to break. Opportunity's movement served, in part, to keep it warm enough to continue functioning.

With so much of the planet to explore, it may not be worth it compared to sending a new vehicle somewhere else.

Steve Squyres from Cornell answered something kinda related on the jpl channel today[0].

"If you had the opportunity to bring a hundred and eighty kilograms of stuff back from the surface of Mars, the last thing I wanna bring is something I know exactly what is made of."

Opportunity did her mission amazingly and is resting in peace in the place where she was designed to be.

We learned a lot from her and her sister mission, now, the effort is better spent building over their shoulders.

[0] https://youtu.be/cnddzE4YSzg?t=4045

I do hope some future Mars colony goes and collects it for the Martian wing of the Smithsonian, though.

No. We're going to build museums - and cities - around the rovers, and the cities will be named after the rovers.

like, with a cloth or something? (sorry)

It'll buff out.

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