Starfield player finds real Mars rover in game
Bethesda SoftworksA Starfield player exploring the Red Planet found a sweet Easter egg referencing real-world space exploration.
Starfield features a massive universe with over 1,000 planets to explore. Among these are our own solar system, which players following the story will visit early on.
One planet players will likely spend quite a bit of time on is Mars. Earth’s rust-colored neighbor is home to the mining colony Cydonia, which is home to some interesting quests.
Players who venture across the planet in Starfield can find the final resting site of an important piece of space exploration history: the Opportunity rover.
Starfield includes the Mars rover Opportunity
Reddit user Wyld_Karde shared an image of his encounter with Opportunity, kneeling in front of it to “show respect to one of the OG space explorers.”
Players can find the rover as part of a quest late in the main story, which we won’t spoil here.
Opportunity is considered one of the most successful space missions of all time. The rover was launched in 2003 with plans to operate for about 90 days; it ultimately operated for over 14 years, making important discoveries in that time.
After NASA lost contact with Opportunity in 2018, reports that the rover’s final transmission was something along the lines of “My battery is low and it’s getting dark” captured the hearts of the public. When NASA declared the mission over the following year, it led to an outpouring of support and grief online, with many mourning the end of the ambitious and wildly successful rover.
Starfield including Opportunity is a really sweet Easter egg that fits perfectly with the game’s themes and inspirations. It’s also not the only reference to iconic space missions. Players have reported finding other pieces of history like Apollo 11, and Todd Howard himself revealed the game’s watch is inspired by the moon landing.
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