Where did the famous phrase "My battery is low and it's getting dark" originate?

They were pre-recorded soundbites played by mission teams

The poignant declarations attributed to the rover, such as the line concerning low battery and darkness, were not generated by the rover reflecting on its own state. These were carefully selected, pre-recorded audio snippets—which could be human voices or stylized electronic sounds—that the mission teams chose to release. These clips were attached to technical telemetry reports relayed to the public. This creative practice served to provide a more emotionally resonant and easily digestible narrative update regarding the vehicle's condition, acting as a form of digital storytelling rather than an actual utterance from the machine.