Opportunity, also known as MER-B (Mars Exploration Rover – B) or MER-1, and nicknamed Oppy, was a robotic rover that was active on Mars from 2004 to 2018.
It was launched on July 7, 2003, as part of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover program, it landed in Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004, three weeks after its twin Spirit (MER-A) touched down on the other side of the planet Mars.
With a planned 90-sol duration of activity (slightly more than 90 earth days), Spirit functioned until getting stuck in 2009 and stopped communications in 2010. Opportunity was able to stay operational for 5352 sols after landing, maintaining its power and key systems through continual recharging of its batteries through solar power.
Opportunity was active for 16 years, 275 days (in Earth Time), 55 times more than its lifespan. By June 10, 2018, when it last contacted NASA, the rover had traveled a distance of 45.16 kilometers (28.06 miles).
Due to the massive dust storms on Mars in 2018, Opportunity stopped communications on June 10, 2018. It was hoped it would reboot once the atmosphere cleared. However it did not, as it either suffered a catastrophic failure or that a layer of dust has covered its solar panels.
On February 13, 2019, NASA officials declared that the Opportunity mission was complete, after the spacecraft failed to respond to repeated signals sent since August 2018.
Images for kids
-
Lifetime progress map with Washington, D.C. overlay for size and distance comparison
-
thumb
-
HiRise image from MRO, was laid over 3-D topographic map of the terrain, with 5-fold vertical exaggeration; view looking west on to Perseverance Valley on the western rim of Endeavour crater (February 15, 2018)
-
Pancam Mast Assembly (PMA)
-
MER-B NavCam image Sol 4959 Start of January 2018, looking along rim of Endeavour crater
-
Delta II Heavy (7925H-9.5) lifting off from pad 17-B carrying MER-B in 2003 with Opportunity rover
-
Annotated elevation map of Opportunity landing site and some surrounding craters including Endeavour and Airy
-
Heat Shield Rock turned out to be the first meteorite discovered on Mars.
-
In March 2016, while trying to reach target on the slope of Marathon Valley in Cape Tribulation, the Mars rover attained a slope of 32 degrees, the highest angle yet for the rover since its mission began. This was so steep that dust that had accumulated on its top panels began to flow downward.
-
Opportunity rover "off-world" driving distance record, compared to other rovers
-
This map, color-coded for minerals (CRISM) and annotated, shows the rover's traverse up to about 2010 with some nearby features noted.
-
Opportunity arrives at Endeavour crater
-
Opportunity images the empty lander, the Challenger Memorial Station
-
Pancam view from August 2012 (Sol 3058)
-
Solander Point is visible on the horizon; foreground shows Botany Bay
-
Opportunity in Endurance crater (simulated view based on actual imagery)
-
BackTrack view (August 2010)
-
Opportunity landing ellipse in Meridiani Planum, near Endeavour crater
-
This geological map created from MRO's CRISM instrument data from orbit gives an overview of some of the geology in the area MER-B is exploring
.jpg)
