ASHLEY STROUPE: We tried to sell this idea to the science team. It’s tricky, because her shoulder was broken. So we had to figure out a way to get all of the different views of the rover without moving the shoulder. ILM SFX ANIMATION: A dual interface showing Opportunity move the robotic arm around to take a selfie from different angles in front of the rover. DOUG ELLISON: It wasn’t great. It was the best we could do. And I think it was almost the science team’s way of saying thank you to the engineering team. “This one’s on us, take the time to take a selfie, you deserve it. Let’s have a look at this robot you’ve made dance for us.” ILM SFX ANIMATION: Opportunity’s arm moves up in front of her. Black and white view from Oppy’s camera as it moves around taking photos of her. DOUG ELLISON: And so the engineers were taking pictures from 17 different angles based on the little preview picture of what they thought the microscope would be seeing. ILM SFX ANIMATION: Opportunity in full color with her head down as if she’s looking at her rover arm camera. DOUG ELLISON: And with Opportunity’s slow old computer, it takes about a minute just to take a picture. And I’m like, “Refresh, there’s nothing here yet. Refresh, there’s nothing here yet. Refresh.” Bang! All the thumbnails showed up. Little tiny 64-pixel thumbnails.
GFX 2D ROVER CAM PHOTOS
DOUG ELLISON: The images were kind of fuzzy and upside down.
But then, we run through it. And there is a picture of Opportunity. Yes, it was little and black and white and out of focus, but for the first time, in at that point 14 plus years, we saw our rover.
FIRST SELFIE ON MARS
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