Personal Narrative: Rover Exploration

After flying in the blackness of space for 54.6 million kilometers in just 260 days, we finally approached the red planet. It looked as if I was looking through a telescope from home. Of course, as we got closer, we saw more detail, more craters, and more. Before coming here, I have been able to see many canyons, eclipses, volcanoes, and other things, as well as hearing how geological features on Mars can be taller than Mount Everest, deeper than the Grand Canyon, etc. That is one of the minor reasons why I am here, to see the sizes for myself. The main reason my crew and I are here is to continue the work of our deceased rover explorers to look for signs of life and to colonize for a short while.

As soon as the spaceship’s engine turned off

I started by hopping over to see the Valles Marineris, or simply the Mariner Valley. When I saw the Grand Canyon, my breath was taken by its impressive 1902 square mile area; I couldn’t imagine how Valles Marineris was, even while knowing that it’s as long as the continental United States! So I went over to see it, and my mind was blown. It was so large; I couldn’t see the whole thing! I looked down, and almost fell down into its deep bottom.

One of my crewmates, Michelle, called me over to see Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system. Due to having one-third of Earth’s gravity, the mountain was able to pile up the more lava it has erupted until it couldn’t reach higher and when its core cooled down. This also means that Olympus Mons is taller than Mount Everest and Mauna Kea, the 2 tallest mountains on Earth! It was too far to walk to, but we were still amazed on how tall it was from far away! “Hey, tomorrow,” Michelle said to me, “let’s go over to Olympus and also check the other 3 big mountains.” And I

As the sun was setting down, I noticed that there was a disk of blue light surrounding the now dark brown sky, reminding me of my reversed sky color from earlier today. Not only that, but 80 minutes later, I saw at least 4-5 other planets, but the most visible was Earth. I quickly grabbed my binoculars I brought with me to take a closer look; when I did, I also saw the Moon orbiting Earth as usual. As the sky got darker, I wondered how my family, friends, and anyone else into space would feel if they saw their one and only rock from its next door brother planet. Then I went to sleep, knowing that the time we would spend here would be another new giant leap for