xkcd.WTF!?

Explanation ➲

This comic is a tribute to the Opportunity rover and its nearly 15 year mission in which it sent back publicly available photos and research from Mars to Earth. The evening prior to this comic uploading (Feb 12, 2019), Nasa's JPL sent their final data request to the rover, in hopes that it would respond. When it did not, the rover was declared to be officially lost.

The comic starts with White Hat, looking at some people taking photographs and lamenting the fact that they're taking pictures all the time, saying "Kids these days...", a common complaint about younger people by their elders. This could be considered a Straw man argument, as White Hat is lamenting that the younger generation look at the world through their camera phones and thus don't experience it directly, and believe that they lose some of the joy of the event in the process - an opinion he has expressed previously in 1314: Photos.

To this Randall appears to counter that sharing and showing to others is an exciting part of the joy, an opinion which he also expressed as Cueball in 1314: Photos. He then proceeds to say that the Opportunity of exploring a completely new world is an exciting part of the exploration, and expresses joy in the fact that MER-B Opportunity was able to share its experiences in its 15-year, 45-kilometer journey on Mars with the entirety of humanity.

The comic ends by thanking the Opportunity rover (and NASA) for allowing the general public the incredible experiences it had on Mars in its 15 Earth-year lifetime, to receive the pictures and data, while traversing along hostile terrain for us. The last panel shows some "followers" which represents everyone on Earth listening to the words from the rover as it transmits the incredible experiences it had on Mars in its 15 Earth-year lifetime. Note, perhaps the reference to "dust devil" suggests these may have been the last such descriptions as that may refer to the deadly global dust storm that likely killed the rover and ended the mission. The dust-devils were also likely responsible for the amazing extended missions for both rovers as they tended to blow the accumulated dust off the solar panels.

The title text shows gratitude for the rover, which brought everyone on Earth, including Randall, along in its journey by sending images of the journey to Earth. Also, Randall used to work at NASA (as a robotocist no less), so as much joy as it brought the world at large, it probably felt just a little more personal for him.

The Opportunity rover also appeared in 1504: Opportunity, while its twin rover Spirit also had a dedicated comic in 695: Spirit.