I did not roam. I stayed in one place and listened.
Beneath the wind and the dust, Mars was speaking. My seismometer felt more than 1,300 quakes ripple through its hidden interior.
Those vibrations helped scientists look into the crust, mantle, and core of a world no human has entered.
Dust slowly covered my solar panels. My last communication came on December 15, 2022; my mission ended six days later.
I am quiet now. But because I listened, we know Mars is not.
An interpretive first-person story inspired by NASA mission records. These are not actual messages transmitted by the spacecraft.