NASA’s Rover “Opportunity” has Ended its mission on Mars

NASA has confirmed that its Rover “Opportunity” has Ended its mission on Mars after almost 15 years exploring the surface of Mars and helping lay the groundwork for NASA’s return to the Red Planet.

The Opportunity Rover was designed to last just 90 Martian days and travel 1,000 meters. But Opportunity vastly surpassed all expectations in its endurance, scientific value and longevity.

In addition to exceeding its life expectancy by 60 times, the rover traveled more than 45 kilometers.

This elderly space robot has not been heard from since 10 June 2018, when a massive dust storm blocked the Sun’s rays from reaching Opportunity’s solar panels.

NASA Scientists have tried to contact it hundreds of times since then, using different methods. On the evening of 12 February, they sent a final set of commands to Opportunity, asking it to respond. There was no answer. Then NASA has declared that Mission of Opportunity Rover has ended.

There is little hope that the rover will revive. Some at NASA had thought that winds might blow away the dust that had accumulated on Opportunity’s solar panels, allowing them to work again — but the windy season at Meridiani has come and gone.

The rover will now experience the deep freeze of a Martian winter, with temperatures too cold for Opportunity to survive without electrical help from its solar panels.

“It is because of trailblazing missions such as Opportunity that there will come a day when our brave astronauts walk on the surface of Mars,”

“And when that day arrives, some portion of that first footprint will be owned by the men and women of Opportunity, and a little rover that defied the odds and did so much in the name of exploration.”

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstin

Opportunity now rests overlooking an area called, fittingly, Perseverance Valley.

Opportunity landed in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars on Jan. 24, 2004, seven months after its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Its twin rover, Spirit, landed 20 days earlier on the other side of Mars. Spirit logged almost 8 kilometers before its mission wrapped up in May 2011.

The another Mars Rover Curiosity, which landed in 2012, is continuing its mission without getting affected by dust strom as it is powered by Nuclear Power. And, NASA is planning to launch another Mars Rover Mars 2020 next year.

News Source: NASA and Nature.