Tag: MER
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Opportunity hunkers down as dust storm descends over the intrepid little rover
For the second time in its career, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is hunkering down on the Red Planet and foregoing scientific operations as a dust storm whirls around the intrepid little rover. Opportunity weathered – with some difficulty – a massive, global dust storm in 2007, remarkably surviving despite extremely low power levels generated…
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Year In Review, 2017 (Part II): Rovers, orbiters peel away Mars’ secrets & reveal new mysteries
For solar and space weather science, 2017 was a major boon to understanding how Coronal Mass Ejections form, travel through space, and affect Earth. But Earth wasn’t the only planet this year that gave scientists a front row seat to solar storms. Thanks to the fleet of orbiters and rovers at Mars, the Red Planet…
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YIR II: Curiosity & Opportunity – Revelations, pushing the limits of longevity
From the orbits of the inner solar system to the surface of Mars. For Curiosity and Opportunity, 2016 continued the rovers’ revelations of the mysteries of the Martian surface – providing scientists with confirmation of long-held theories while also revealing surprises about Mars’ geologic past and providing new research for the eventual push of human exploration…
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Curiosity confirms organics on Mars; Opportunity’s 10 year anniversary
Mars dominated planetary research headlines in 2014 as an international fleet of orbiters and NASA’s two rovers returned unparalleled scientific research on the Red Planet. In 2014, scientists marked Opportunity’s 10-year anniversary on Mars, watched the near miss of comet Siding Spring, and announced Curiosity’s groundbreaking confirmation of the presence of organics on the surface…
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Ten Years On: Opportunity’s unparalleled time and mission on Mars
Ten years ago, 25 January 2004, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity slammed into the Martian atmosphere, beginning what was supposed to be a 90 Mars day (sol) mission on the surface of Mars. Ten years and 3,557 Mars days (3,653 Earth days) later, Opportunity is remarkably still functioning, unlocking the mysteries of Mars and serving…
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Opportunity’s eight years on Mars: A story of science and endurance
Eight years ago today (January 25, 2004), the Mars Exploration Rover -B (MER -B) slammed into the Martian atmosphere and executed a successful Entry, Descent, and Landing on the Red Planet – beginning what was supposed to be 90 days of science operations on the surface of Mars. Eight years and 2,922 Earth-days later, Opportunity…