Timelapse of a Mars Rover

510,267

28,349 0

Published 2019-05-01

Using raw rover imagery and the sound of actual wind on Mars, I painted this little portrait of Opportunity, our faithful little martian rover friend that was lost earlier this year. Losing a rover feels a little like losing a pet. But for all that it accomplished, and for our ability to revel in all the awesome images it collected over its lifetime, its end is bittersweet. Oppy traveled 28 miles on Mars over a span of 14 years - an amazing feat of engineering and human ambition.

After sifting through thousands of raw Mars images for hours and hours, I have developed a strange sense of Mars as a real place I have been, riding alongside this little rover that could, making laps across rocky martian plains. My hope is this little portrait gives you a glimpse of that same feeling. Still can't believe we put a vehicle on mars that lasted almost 15 years. I don’t even expect my car to run that long. Humans are pretty rad sometimes.

Thanks to all the people at NASA, JPL, and beyond who made this mission possible. Thanks to Matt Brealey for help collecting raw images. And thanks to Juan Benet and my Patreon subscribers for their support of this creation: Kalexan, Laine Boswell, Holly, Abraxas, Alina Sigaeva, Ahmad M Alquarni, Amal Isaac, Benedikt Winter, Chris Becker, Aksel Tjønn, Daniel Saltzman, Crystal, Dave & Debbie Boswell, David Southpaw, Eico Neumann, Ezri Legler, Frances Kubat, geekiskhan, Gergo Rostasi, Giulia Carrozzino, Hannah Murphy, Ivan Sivák, James Lyon, Jeremy Kerwin, JousterL, Julio Hernández Camero, Kody Cotterill, Lars Støttrup Nielsen, Leonard van Vliet, Leo Botinelly, Marnix Bruinsma, Michael Li, Mihai Ioan Pop, Mohana Chandiran Dhukkaram, Mitchel Mattera, Nathan Paskett, Patrick Cullen, Patrick Raimond, Preston Maness, Rodrigo Sambade Saá, Randall Bollig, Roman Shishkin, Sean Tham, Silas Rech, Stefan Stettner, The Cleaner, TheMoonWalker115, Virtual_271, Vladislav Gudzenko, Timothy E Plum, Virtual_271, Westin Johnson, Yan Kononov, and Yannic.

Support my works: Patreon.com/melodysheep

Peace and love,

Melodysheep
melodysheep.com
@musicalscience

All Comments (21)

@melodysheep 5 years ago

hey guys. tried something a bit different for this piece - hope you dig it. any questions for me?
@andreasvonsinnen 5 years ago

"my battery is low and it's getting dark" is one of the saddest sentences ever.
@CrownePrince 5 years ago

It amazes me that the images still feel familiar, despite it being a different planet.
@tegjwokjohn1839 4 years ago

Oppy dies - Everybody starts crying

Voyager 1 lost in deep space: Am I a joke to you?
@RudolfdeLang 5 years ago

One day we will build a city where you rest now.
@banafanafofana6914 5 years ago

Just when I was recovering from the timelapse of the future :'(
@Adam-tt9tu 4 years ago

14 years, 28 miles. Sounds like traffic in Southern California.
@LightningShiva1 5 years ago

Where music and science meets,
Something Incredible happens.
@proy2448 4 years ago

Oppy, the Voyagers, the Pioneers, Cassini....old friends, some gone, some very far away.
@tippib2222 5 years ago

oh no I'm crying for a little space robot again
@user-tc3nj3sg9v 5 years ago

I didn't ask to be brought in tears watching this . Oppy's like our precious space puppy .

See you , space puppy .
@noicenoice6226 3 years ago

“Don’t be sad that he died,be happy for what he gave us...... an opportunity”
@605prophet 5 years ago

I'm crying actual tears rn.

Edit: This is a damn masterpiece
@montyquartz5414 5 years ago

Opportunity is like the WALL-E of our time, determined to accomplish its job. Great video!
@botend7307 4 years ago

villain that had a dramatic backstory: Humanity is evil, corrupt, and heartless. It's a disease and i'm the cure.
Majority of humanity: cries over the best robot in outer space
@user-df7oo4hr8h 4 years ago

It always amazes me how curious people are when it comes to learning about other worlds and planets, regardless where they are from! Warm greetings from Kazakhstan to all who are interested in studying space!
@abrarahmad6370 5 years ago

Melodysheep, thanks for being in my life.
@whytwojay 4 years ago

Mars: has a storm
Opportunity: NASA I don’t feel so good
@cosmosdream283 3 years ago

When humanity became Interstellar Species..Oppy will be the most remembered.
@ryujitakayama9757 4 years ago

It was just an instrument -like Hubble, New Horizons, and many others. Just metal and silicon... my logic says to me.
But they do have soul somehow. In their story? In my observation of these stories? I know its just hypertrophied empathy, but I wonder...
Did Hubble wanted to be sent to the stars, it was watching at, with all its passion, with only mission? Not crash on Earth, it never saw...
Is New Horizons scared to face ethernity, leaving home, and home of its home, and further - for at least millennias?
And does the Oppy waiting for us, missing soft hands of creators, even if theres no future, at least to someone be next to at the end.
Just metal and silicon...