Is the wife getting on your case for constantly hammering Marvel superheroes and videogames into your child’s cranium? Well have no fear, because that’s where pure science comes in!

The Mars rover named “Spirit” is having some unexpected glitches which are causing NASA to scratch their heads in bewilderment:

Spirit failed to report in to engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., last weekend, prompting a series of diagnostic tests this week to hunt the glitch’s source. The aging Mars rover did not beam home a record of its weekend activities and, more puzzlingly, apparently failed to even record any of its actions on Sunday, mission managers said.

So you can tell your wife it’s science, but you’ll really tell your kids it’s Wall-E, right?

Source: Mars Rover’s Unexpected Behavior Puzzles NASA