The Desperate Last Ditch Efforts to save Opportunity

 NASA - opportunity do you receive our is down to 22 watts over nasa to opportunity do you receive

Due to a record-breaking global scaled dust storm that enveloped Mars in 2018 NASA lost contact with its opportunity Rover launched in the summer of 2003 the hardy little robot survived for over 14 years after it was designed to last just 90 Martian days the last messages NASA received from the rover basically translated to my battery is low and it's getting dark opportunity was launched with a twin rover named spirit which had stopped contacting NASA in 2010 after becoming trapped in a sand dune at such an angle it had trouble charging its solar panels the rover's were designed to enter hibernation mode if the power became too low saving just enough power.

To keep the clock running and periodically waking up to check the power level before going back to sleep if the power was still too low NASA scientists held hope that once the dust storm had cleared Martian winds would remove the dust from its solar panels and allow opportunity to recharge as this had happened before the worry was that the power had dipped so low opportunity's clock could not even tell the time therefore couldn't prompt it to wake up and check the power levels the Martian winter was also closing in and with opportunity unable to activate its night time heating system the blisteringly cold temperatures of Mars could essentially freeze the rover to death after months of trying and failing to contact opportunity in the usual way and with time growing short NASA decided to attempt a series of high-risk last-ditch efforts to save opportunity

A primary rule of troubleshooting an ailing Rover is do not touch the spacecraft clock the clock onboard opportunity was responsible for prompting when it should wake up during the Martian day and when it should sleep however with the possibility that the power had gotten so low the clock had switched off

NASA believed opportunity's clock could be similar to an alarm clock perpetually blinking 12:00 a.m. after a power cut after taking the drastic measure of resetting the clock NASA scientists were disheartened when they didn't receive a response the dust storm had cleared and NASA even had a visual on opportunity from its orbiting spacecraft the windy season was coming to an end diluting any hopes that the wind would help to clear its solar panels with

Winter closing in time was growing short another possible cause of opportunity's silence was thought to have been a problem with its radio antenna the rover had to such antenna one for direct contact with earth and one for contact with orbiting spacecraft NASA tried forcing opportunity to contact orbiting spacecraft rather than directly with earth unfortunately the rover remained.

Enough is what was decided in February 2000 19 an official into the missioned was declared dr. tonya harrison who worked on the mission tweeted spent the evening at JPL as the last ever commands were sent to the opportunity Rover on Mars there was silence there were tears there were hugs there were memories and laughs shared.

Andrew Coates a planetary scientist at London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory said shortly after the announcement it is a matter of both celebration for what it was able to achieve and in the broad context of Mars exploration but also tinged with sadness losing an old friend there is no doubt that the opportunity mission was one of

NASA's most successful the hardy Rover covered a distance of over 45 kilometers more than all the other Mars rovers combined at the very beginning of its mission it discovered an interesting Rock that opportunity almost thought was

The Martian sky as it was so reflective upon further investigation the rock was found to be a Martian meteorite the first meteorite ever discovered on another planet within the first few months Opportunity discovered large amounts of rounded blue rocks which NASA nicknamed blueberries this was a jackpot for planetary scientists as the rocks contained the minerals hematite and Jarrah site which only formed when rocks are exposed to acidic water by finding.

So many of these rocks Opportunity proved that Mars once had abundant surface water if this wasn't enough Opportunity found these so-called blueberries throughout its 45 kilometer journey and made a series of even more interesting discoveries this image named Burns cliff yields huge signs of Mars watery past the layers of rock you can see were form over time some laid down and watery periods others in dry periods due to the minerals that have been found scientists believe this water would have been salty

A city not the best kind of water for life as we know it however when opportunity reached endeavor crater towards the end of its mission a shocking discovery was made opportunity found the first signs that non-acidic fresh water once existed on Mars and there was a lot of the walls of the Endeavour crater hold abundances of clay that only form in neutral pH water furthermore this water is conducive to life these discoveries have..

Revolutionized our understanding of the red planet and specifically its past as a watery world similar to Earth now 16 years after the launch of opportunity and many discoveries later how can we best remember the little rover pictures nASA has thousands of high-quality pictures taken by opportunity each image tells a story and scientists have studied each one extensively and the best part is that you can explore these images for yourself head to the link in the description which would take you to the. 

Mor..nasa website search for panorama and you will find lots of high quality images.