Today Mars is also a New Yorker, or something…
By At the risk of being insufficiently devotional today, I will note that this is totally bizarre.
Two aluminum shields were fashioned out metal that was salvaged from remnants of the fallen towers, and then dispatched to the Red Planet in 2003 on Spirit and Opportunity Rovers, according to a NASA press release. The shields, which are each embellished with an American flag, were designed to protect cables on the rovers’ rock abrasion tools, also known as RATs. . . .
The Mars Exploration Rover Spirit was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on June 10, 2003, followed by Opportunity’s launch on July 7. In 2004, [Stephen] Gorevan told a New York Times reporter that the memorial had not been publicized at the time because it was intended to be a “quiet tribute.”
“Enough time has passed. We want the families to know,” he said.
And now, I suppose, they do.