Good night oppy sos
2023

Montclair Film Montclair, NJ

with

Ashley Stroupe

Robotics Software Engineer, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Good Night Oppy— Mission to Mars: The engineering behind Oppy’s journey

Dr. Ashley Stroud discusses her role and experiences with the Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity (Oppy), as well as her ongoing work with robotics and space exploration at NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs.

Montclair Film Montclair, NJ

Film Synopsis

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity (aka Oppy) was originally expected to live for only 90 days... but she ultimately explored Mars for nearly 15 years.

    Good Night Oppy tells the inspirational true story of Opportunity, affectionately dubbed Oppy by her creators and scientists at NASA, a rover that was sent to Mars for a 90-day mission but ended up surviving for 15 years. The film follows Opportunity’s groundbreaking journey on Mars and the remarkable bond forged between a robot and her humans millions of miles away.

    Photo credit: Amazon Prime Video

    About the Speaker

    Ashley Stroupe is a robotics software engineer specializing in Mars Rover operations. She has been at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) since 2003, and has worked with the Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity rovers in various roles including Rover Driver, Science Activity Planner, and Tactical Uplink Lead. She has also participated in robotics research in the areas of multi-robot coordination, steep terrain access, and sampling.