#space technology

Curiosity Rover's damaged wheels after 13 years, or 7.25 Martian years of service on the Red Planet. All images taken in March 23, 2026.

The wheels have some slots cut into them, which serve a very important function by letting dirt and rocks that accumulate inside the open sided wheel a pathway to fall out. They also leave a very specific tred pattern so that the cameras can be used to check if a wheel is dragging or not. Some of the slots are elongated and some short. It was designed specifically to write out in Morse code:

.--- / .--. / .-..

So, howdy there, folks. This one is a bit different, but if you don't try new things then you'll never learn new things, right? I wanted to work on my character design for this one, as well as attempting to create my first ever marionette. Luckily, the structure of the dolls I make lends itself very well to marionette, so really all I had to do was add the strings.

As for the character herself, this is Opportunity! Or Oppy, to her friends. As a lover of science who is currently in my second year of a STEM degree, I love to incorporate my interests into the things I make.

For those who don't know, Opportunity was a Mars rover who greatly outlived her life expectancy by over 14 years. She was sent up with her twin rover, Spirit, and was tasked with looking for evidence of previously life-supporting conditions. I only thought it fitting to personify such an important piece of scientific exploration as a character of her own. I like to think she hangs out in space and explores the universe with Laika by her side.

It's not my best, but it was fun!

They will go 4 minutes with no communication, no signals… nothing!

Praying for your safe return, Artemis II.

You did us proud. ❤️🚀🧑🏾‍🚀🌕💫✨