Wake up with NASA’s playlist made for its sleeping Mars rover

Having trouble getting up in the morning? Crank up a playlist inspired to wake up a robot on Mars.

NASA engineers have picked songs to greet their sleeping Opportunity rover on Mars, which survived a Martian dust storm in June but is yet to switch back on.

The storm caused Opportunity’s battery power to drop so low that it’s now in a sleep mode and not yet able to call home to Earth.

So, according to Space.com, staff at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have been playing themed wake-up songs in the control room, in an effort to inspire the sleeping rover to awaken. 

The mission team reportedly started by playing Wham! classic “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go,” on Aug. 4, and have been playing the likes of Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper,” Elton John’s “Rocket Man,” and, of course, David Bowie’s “Life on Mars” to herald each new Martian day.

Space.com collected all the songs into a Spotify playlist, so you can mark each new Earth day with them. 

While the team hasn’t pinpointed the time Opportunity is likely to wake up and check in with Earth, the publisher reports that they’ve set up an informal betting pool to guess, with dates ranging from early July to mid-September.

So, plenty more songs to add to the playlist before then. My pitch: Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up.”