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comment by goobster
goobster  ·  2470 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Are Curiosity's tracks landmarks?

Right? What about re-using hardware like the Lunar Rover?

Do the Chinese get to drive the Lunar Rover around? It would make good sense for them to attempt to get it operational and use it, rather than bringing one with them, right?

What about the Spirit rover on Mars? Why did it stop?

What about the Mars Explorer? Or the Mars Climate Observer? Why did they crash? Is there anything recoverable? Should those sites be protected historical sites, or...?

It's an interesting set of questions to noodle.

Of course, even the Moon is a BIG place. And we probably don't want to go back to where we have already been. It may be that there are better places for humans to land/visit in the future, and no Mark Watney is ever going to travel far enough to visit the crash site of a craft, or the debris left over from past robotic visitors.

But... what if the lunar lander is parked on top of a rich source of (insert mineral name here)?