One wonders whether Randall Monroe of xkcd will immortalize this moment in human exploration history as he did with the Mars rover Spirit. Or if this abandonment will be one more reason for Skynet to hate us come the Singularity. (grin)Never underestimate the power of wishful thinking...
UPDATE 3/3/2014: He did! (grin) http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/hack.png I am happy now.
Dr. Phil