When twin rovers named Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars twenty years ago, they were only supposed to last 90 Martian days. But years passed, they were still alive, and engineers kept taking care of them...

We proudly present a This is Love Spotlight — a story from out of this world, about two robots on Mars who just would not die. And the people whose job it was to check on them every day, who started to think about them as family.

This story Tau = 10.8, is from the podcast This is Love, part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. 

This is Love, hosted by Phoebe Judge is a show that tells stories about a lot of different kinds of love — sometimes love between people, sometimes not. It’s made by the same team that makes what was one of the first true crime podcasts out there — a show called Criminal. 

They have dozens more stories like this available wherever you get your podcasts! Their website is thisislovepodcast.com. 

Artwork by Julienne Alexander 

MUSIC

• “Spindash” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Oriel” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Line Exchange” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Stickle” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Idle Ways” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Vernouillet_Swing Swing” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “The Gran Dias” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “The Longshoreman” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Borough_Alternate Opening” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Awash” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Parissi” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Pxl Htra” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Trailmaker” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Bundt” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Pall Canyon” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Etude 3 Chessanta_Alt Arp” by Blue Dot Sessions
• “Town Market_Guitar” by Blue Dot Sessions

Season 15 - Episode 20