So the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, aka the satellite that collected data proving the ozone layer was shrinking, which led to climate legislation being passed, recently reentered the atmosphere and came back to Earth. The ERBS was expected to last for 2 years, but it ended up operating and collecting data for 21 years.
This got me thinking - the exceeding of lifespans seems to be a trend in NASA's instruments. I feel like the obvious example people think of is the Opportunity rover (expected to last 90 Mars days (about 3 Earth months), instead operated for almost 15 years), but there's more than just Oppy
Spirit was launched slightly before Opportunity to a different area of Mars, and was similarly expected to live for 90 Martian days. Spirit operated for about 6 years
Curiosity's first mission was 2 years long. Its power system was required to last 1 Mars year (687 Earth days). It's been 10 years and she's still going
The Hubble telescope was expected to live for 15 years, and we're still getting data from it even after the launch of JWST
Perseverance is expected to operate after the completion of its first mission, which I think is finishing this year?
And like yeah you could call it a miracle or really good luck, but I think that's not entirely the case
The instruments were designed to last. They were built with the knowledge that they couldn't just come back for repairs, and a person couldn't easily be sent out to go fix them when something went wrong. We gave them tools to fix themselves, and sent instructions on how to solve their problems when their wheels broke or they got stuck in the sand. And when we Could send someone for repairs, like with Hubble, we did
There's probably a more eloquent/poetic way to put this, that would pierce my heart and pull tears out of my eyes, but I just think it's neat that humans try to make things last. We put effort into things and celebrate when they exceed our expectations, and give them more to do when they're done with their tasks. We reach out to rovers long after they go silent in the hopes that they'll come back to us, that they'll find a way through the storm. We tell them to drive backwards when their front wheel stops working, so they have an easier time rolling. We fix their mirrors when they crack. We understand that their time is precious, so we give them only the most important of missions. We care about these pieces of machinery that we could easily throw away or replace
We care
And I think that's beautiful
