A piece of our hearts etched onto the surface of Mars, when NASA declared Opportunity presumed dead. When she arrived on a space ship on January 25, 2004 they thought her rechargeable lithium batteries would only last a few months. However, they only shut down to rest peacefully on June 10, 2018. This was after 14 years of faithful service,
A Long Mars Winter Put Opportunity to Rest Peacefully
Opportunity unfurled two delicate solar panels to capture energy as soon as she landed and climbed out of her lander. However, the capacity of her 900 watt hour battery set gradually reduced, as batteries always do.
A Mars winter is twice the length of an Earth one. This meant Opportunity had to hibernate in the cold to conserve energy. Each time she reawakened, her batteries were a little weaker. But that was not all, because wind storms were gradually obscuring her solar panels with dust. On June 12, 2018 a mighty dust storm erupted that only subsided two months later. The rover did not come out of hibernation that time. Rest peacefully, old friend.
Opportunity Rover’s Greatest Achievements
Opportunity achieved a forward angle of 32º while approaching Marathon Valley in Cape Tribulation in March 2016. This was steep enough for the dust to flow down her panels. She has traveled further than any other rover and ascended to a height of 443 feet.
Perhaps Opportunity’s greatest achievement was discovering alien meteorites from far, far away. Scientists have speculated similar ones may have brought first life to Earth. However, the discovery of evidence of past water activity is even more intriguing. As the terrible dust storm descended on June 12, 2018 Opportunity signaled NASA “My battery is low and it’s getting dark”.
Rest peacefully, little one. For you have run the race faithfully, and secured a great prize for us all.
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