Nasa abandons its Opportunity Mars rover
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2019 4:36 pm
Nasa has given up on the possibility of restarting its Opportunity rover, after losing contact with it last summer due to a Martian dust storm. Opportunity far exceeded its expected lifetime, having survived for 15 years and travelling 45 kms ( 28 miles ) on the Red Planet. The rover sent back 200,000 raw images of Mars, and it confirmed the presence of water in the soil.
Opportunity's twin rover, Spirit, gave up the ghost, so to speak, in 2011, after getting stuck in the sand.
John Callas, manager of the Mars project, said of Opportunity: "It's just like a loved one who's gone missing, and you keep holding out hope that they will show up and be healthy. But each passing day that diminishes and at some point you have to say 'enough' and move on with your life.
It's surprising how many people are still in thrall to Mars and wish to live there, as if it was pre-Mariner days when the planet was regarded by some almost as a little Earth.
Opportunity's twin rover, Spirit, gave up the ghost, so to speak, in 2011, after getting stuck in the sand.
John Callas, manager of the Mars project, said of Opportunity: "It's just like a loved one who's gone missing, and you keep holding out hope that they will show up and be healthy. But each passing day that diminishes and at some point you have to say 'enough' and move on with your life.
It's surprising how many people are still in thrall to Mars and wish to live there, as if it was pre-Mariner days when the planet was regarded by some almost as a little Earth.