Good Night Oppy - Film and Reflections, A place for discussion of the Film "Good Night Oppy" by Ryan W Options

[paxdan]

Hello All,

Just thought I'd make a post to celebrate the streaming release of Good Night Oppy, a new film by Ryan White about the MER mission. I watched it last night on Amazon. It was amazing to reflect on the success of MER rovers and the intertwining of people's lives with the rovers. As someone who lurked on the mer.lp forum which was a precursor to unmannedspaceflight I want to pay special tribute to Doug, the founder of this forum, for creating this space and congratulate and celebrate his eventual ascension to nerdvana, JPL itself, to work on the MER missions by way of bootleg postcards!

Watching this forum grow, seeing the panoramas, postcards, and maps posted to bring along a bunch of folks on the first overland exploration of another planet is an experience I will never forget. For 15 years I checked in everyday without fail to the MER rovers, I strongly suspect I've seen every one of the half a million or so photos returned by the mission. But more importantly I remember with such clarity the stops along the way - For Oppy: Eagle, Endeavour, Victoria, Endurance. The Blueberry bowl, bounce rock, etched terrain, Purgatory, Spirit point, Homestake vein visiting the backshell and so much more. For Spirit: the sol 17 anomaly at Adirondack, Bonneville, the trek to the Columbia hills and the pot of gold, summiting Husband hill, Homeplate and the mystery of 'Ultreya', dust devils galore and the discovery of evidence for a thermal spring.

The MER rovers were literally the adventure of a lifetime, and what was amazing and made it possible was the decision by Steve Squyres to put the raw images online immediately. It made possible the armchair exploration which became such a big part of our lives. I am so grateful for all the folk who made maps and panoramas, who poured over images and made anaglyphs movies and animations.

So I just want to say thank you to Steve, Doug and all the folk who got involved, both at JPL and in the wider community for Sprit, Opportunity and the MER rover experience.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and reflections on the MER Mission, and maybe share a few memories and images too.

Daniel