Chapter Text
November 21, 1996.
"A new rover built by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will be launched December 4, 1996. Developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Sojourner will be visiting our red neighbor, Mars. If her 7 sol mission proves successful, we can start projects on longer-lasting rovers. Don't get your hopes up, though. She is still merely a test rover."
That's what the big-shot said at the meeting, and what her engineers are being reminded of every day. Sojourner will be the first Mars rover ever produced, and if her mission is a success, there will be more like her. Sojourner was nervous to go to another planet, but what kept her going was the possibility of more like her. She could never go wrong with other Mars rovers. While, yes, Sojourner was aware that there were rovers on the Moon, none of them could easily accompany her to Mars. Heck, the only machinery that was even landing on Mars with her was Pathfinder, the lander that will deliver her. Another rover like her would fill the void in her non-existent heart.