Planet Earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do

This must be the most melancholy consequence of the US federal government shutdown: Mars rover Curiosity has suspended her twitter feed. “Sorry, but I won’t be tweeting/responding to replies during the government shutdown. Back as soon as possible.”

We can only hope that while Curiosity is no longer communicating with Earth she might still be in private conversation with the other three US rovers on Mars: Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity. However, chances are slim. Communication with Sojourner was lost on September 27, 1997. Spirit and Opportunity are twin rovers who landed on opposite sides of the planet, and though Opportunity’s mission is ongoing, Spirit became stuck in soft soil in 2009 and attempts to re-establish communication were finally ceased on May 25, 2011. Opportunity and Spirit still share a twitter feed (even though Spirit has been silent for several years) which however has also been suspended as of October 1.

Even though Spirit has been irretrievably lost in action, NASA sincerely hopes to hear from Curiosity and Opportunity again soon.