Roughly eight months after it fell silent during a planet-wide Martian dust storm, and just weeks after celebrating its 15th anniversary on the red planet, NASA is finally saying goodbye to the Opportunity rover.
The space agency has made hundreds of attempts to contact the rover since it powered down back in June, when dark skies prevented its solar battery from charging.
In a last-ditch effort, NASA sent out a final set of commands on Tuesday in hopes it might finally respond.
But once again, their calls were met only with silence.
NASA confirmed the grim news in a press conference Wednesday afternoon, where it officially bade farewell to the long-running mission.
With the death of the Opportunity rover also comes the end of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers program, which launched from Cape Canaveral in July 2003 with the twin robots, Spirit and Opportunity. Spirit met its end back in 2011, a year after getting stuck in the sand and losing contact with Earth.
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The agency made one final attempt to contact Opportunity Rover (pictured) eight months after the spacecraft last made contact. A giant dust storm blocked sunlight from Mars in 2018, stopping Opportunity's solar-powered batteries from being able to recharge
'I’m standing here with a sense of deep appreciation and gratitude, as I declare the Opportunity mission complete - and with it the Mars exploration mission as compete,' Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said during the Wednesday press conference.
'I will never forget the amazing work that happened here, it transformed our understanding of the red planet.'
The Mars rover, affectionately known as ‘Oppy,’ far surpassed the expectations of the team that’s operated it for so long.
It was designed to last just 90 Martian days (90 sols), during which it would travel a total of 1,000 meters (1100 yards).
But somehow, Oppy survived 14-and-a-half years after touching down on the red planet, pushing its limits to travel almost 30 miles to reshape our understanding of Mars.
It withstood years of extreme temperatures and radiation, but finally met its match this past spring, when a planet-wide dust storm encircled Mars and blotted out the sun.
This proved to be a fatal blow for Opportunity, as the rover relies entirely on solar energy to power its instruments.
More than 1,000 recovery commands were sent over the course of eight months in a bid to revive the robotic geologist.
The last signal successfully beamed from the $400 million (£311 million) solar-powered rover was on June 10, 2018.
Opportunity fell silent back in June, with no way to power its solar battery as dust continued to block out the sun. The animation shows how the rover (centre) was directly in the path of the raging storm
In August, NASA set a 45 day deadline to declare 'Oppy' dead if no response was heard. In October, this deadline was extended to January to re-evaluate the situation.
But, the space agency now says the time has come to say goodbye.
Dr Tanya Harrison took to Twitter to talk about the profound sadness felt by herself, the Opportunity team and the wider scientific community when the nomadic rover failed to respond to the final contact attempts from scientists
'We have made every reasonable engineering effort to try to recover Opportunity and have determined that the likelihood of receiving a signal is far too low to continue recovery efforts,' said John Callas, manager of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project at JPL.
For the weary rover, the desolate Martian landscape known as Perseverance Valley, which it once set out to explore, will now serve as its graveyard.
It retires with 5,352 Martian sols under its belt.
'I cannot think of a more appropriate place for Opportunity to endure on the surface of Mars than one called Perseverance Valley,' said Michael Watkins, director of JPL.
'The records, discoveries and sheer tenacity of this intrepid little rover is testament to the ingenuity, dedication, and perseverance of the people who built and guided her.'
Opportunity landed on Mars on Jan 24, 2004, touching down in a region called Meridiani Planum.
Its twin, Spirit, had landed 20 days prior in the Gusev Crater on the other side of the planet.
The mission set a new paradigm for Mars exploration, the team explained during the press conference; when the rovers touched down, there was no telling how it would all pan out.
Mission engineers, rover drivers, and scientists back on Earth worked together to create ‘workable avenues’ for Opportunity to traverse the rugged Martian terrain.
At times it had to detour around, and sometimes climb over, rocks and boulders, or climb gravel-covered slopes and crater floors.
NASA's control room trying to contact opportunity will no longer try and work with the rover. It first landed on Mars in 2004 after being launched from Cape Canaveral with its fellow golf cart-sized twin, Spirit
Opportunity's staffers had been hoping to rekindle the connection with the rover, but to no avail. No response had been detected by the team (pictured) for eight months. Its path during its long stay is mapped on the right
'It's no easier saying goodbye now to Opportunity than it was to Spirit,' Callas told The Associated Press ahead of the conference.
'It's just like a loved one who's gone missing, and you keep holding out hope that they will show up and that they're healthy,' he said.
'But each passing day that diminishes, and at some point, you have to say "enough" and move on with your life.'
Opportunity was designed to search for clues of Mars’ watery past in what was initially planned to be a three-month-long mission.
And, the researchers say it’s done that and so much more in the many years since it arrived to the red planet.
The robotic explorer detected something promising in the first rocks it encountered - pearl-shaped rocks near the landing site that hinted at the presence of water long ago.
Nasa's Mars rover Opportunity has travelled further than all other Mars rovers combined. Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004 after being launched from Cape Canaveral with its fellow golf cart-sized twin, Spirit
Opportunity´s landing platform, with freshly made tracks, is shown above. Opportunity landed on Mars on Jan 24, 2004, touching down in a region called Meridiani Planum
Rover robots found signs of water in the first rocks they encountered on Mars, as rocks near the landing site contained pearl-shaped rocks (pictured)
The mission set a new paradigm for Mars exploration, the team explained during the press conference; when the rovers touched down, there was no telling how it would all pan out. One of Opportunity's stunning views of Mars is pictured, showing 'Pillinger Point'
‘From the get-go, Opportunity delivered on our search for evidence regarding water,’ said Steve Squyres, principal investigator of the rovers' science payload at Cornell University.
‘And when you combine the discoveries of Opportunity and Spirit, they showed us that ancient Mars was a very different place from Mars today, which is a cold, dry, desolate world.
‘But if you look to its ancient past, you find compelling evidence for liquid water below the surface and liquid water at the surface.’
Though this particular Mars exploration mission has come to an end, NASA’s plans for uncovering the mysteries of red planet are far from over.
The InSight lander, which touched down in November, has begun collecting data in what’s just the beginning of a historic investigation into the Martian interior.
It was designed to last just 90 Martian days (90 sols), during which it would travel a total of 1,000 meters (1100 yards). But somehow, Oppy survived 14-and-a-half years after touching down on the red planet, pushing its limits to travel almost 30 miles to reshape our understanding of Mars
And in 2020, both NASA and ESA will launch rovers designed to be the first robotic missions to scout out signs of past microbial life on Mars.
‘When I think of Opportunity, I will recall that place on Mars where our intrepid rover far exceeded everyone's expectations,’ Callas said.
‘But what I suppose I'll cherish most is the impact Opportunity had on us here on Earth. It's the accomplished exploration and phenomenal discoveries.
‘It's the generation of young scientists and engineers who became space explorers with this mission. It's the public that followed along with our every step.
‘And it's the technical legacy of the Mars Exploration Rovers, which is carried aboard Curiosity and the upcoming Mars 2020 mission. Farewell, Opportunity, and well done.’
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/14/opportunity-is-dead-nasa-confirms-mars-rover-failed-to-wake-up/
Main photo article Roughly eight months after it fell silent during a planet-wide Martian dust storm, and just weeks after celebrating its 15th anniversary on the red planet, NASA is finally saying goodbye to the Opportunity rover.
The space agency has made hundreds of attempts to contact the rover since it...
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Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
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