Good Night Oppy
Director/Writer: Ryan White

This 2022 Prime Video documentary isabout the twin Mars’ landers that bounced (remember that touchdown technique?) on separate sides of the Red Planet in 2004: Spirit and Opportunity (Oppy).

Each rover had an expected duration of 90 days: Spirit lasted just over six years until wheel issues ended its mission.

And Oppy – the focus of this documentary – lasted almost 15 years! That’s an endurance record that stands to this day.

The documentary is presented in an interesting format: It mixes live footage/photos, animations of how Oppy moved and what it saw on Mars, and contemporary interviews of the program’s principals (many featured in the live footage from years ago). The interviews added some backstories that a normal live film and voice-over narration sometimes miss. Mad Oppy even “more human.”

For space nerds only, this 1h 45m documentary is a good look back at the remarkable pair of rovers. It’s not as polished as some science documentaries, but it’s still a feel-good film of (mainly) Oppy, that plucky little rover that just kept going and going…

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For reasons that I’m not going to get into here, I recently got a pretty much free Google Pixel 6a smartphone (had to pay the tax and get a USB-C -> USB-C charger).

Note: This is the first time I’ve spent any significant hands-on time with an Android device; it’s the first Pixel I’ve ever touched.

I’m pretty much a (very happy) iPhone dude.

Here are some first impressions, especially vis-a-vis Apple smartphones. In no particular order:

• Lovely (full) screen; solid build feel.
• USB-C. Come on Apple, join the rest of the world…
• Hate that I had to enter/set-up a Google account to continue. I don’t think Apple requires this (encourages so you can back up to iCloud, but not required). I, of course, have an account, but didn’t want this phone to be an extension of my Google universe…
• Fingerprint reader is under the screen (yay! – no chin like my iPhone SE) but it works at best about one out of every ten times. Apple’s home button is phenomenal.
• Battery life seems kinda weak, and I was just using it on WiFi.
• Gestures are a little weird, but I come from an iOS world. I’m pretty sure it’s just a case of getting used to the different environment.
• Interface for calls (it’s a phone, remember?): iOS kicks the Pixel’s ass. Hands down.
• There was a Google rep in the store when I got the phone, and she touted the camera. I have yet to try, so I can’t say.
• While I’m certain I can change the color scheme, the default is, in most areas, dreadful. This is where Apple rocks – design, including the UI.

Again, pretty and solid phone but it is the Pixel SIX – not just a work in progress.

Overall, slightly unimpressed.

I remember helping a friend set up his email om a Samsung Galaxy a couple of years ago, and that was a sweet phone. Hardware and software – impressive with just a few minutes handling it. Rivaled the iPhone.