Opportunity rover: What will happen to Opportunity after rover declared DEAD

The Mars Opportunity rover has now been abandoned after its power cut out on the surface of the Red Planet. A massive dust storm encircling Mars blighted the planet’s atmosphere and prevented Opportunity from collecting the solar energy it needed to keep running. After more than 1,000 attempts to reestablish a connection by NASA, Opportunity has been left to rest and will soon be succeeded by another rover. Opportunity was designed to explore and take pictures of Mars’ Gale crater – thought to once have been a giant lake – and look for signs the planet once held life.

What will happen to Opportunity now?

Opportunity outlasted its lifespan by 60 times before it was declared dead and has taken its resting place at the appropriately named Perseverance Valley.

Now, Opportunity will join its counterpart rover Spirit – which landed in 2003 with an objective to search and categorise Martian rocks – in lying stationary on the planet.

With its mission is declared over, NASA will no longer issuing commands to Opportunity, leaving it on Mars for good.

READ MORE: Opportunity’s LAST message

However, Opportunity has established a legacy and will still directly affect future Mars missions and NASA as a whole.

John Callas, manager of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project at JPL (NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory) said its achievements will go onto affect space exploration.

He said: “When I think of Opportunity, I will recall that place on Mars where our intrepid rover far exceeded everyone’s expectations.

“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.”

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“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.”

READ MORE: Is proof of Mars life on LOST NASA satellites?

The next Mars mission will be undertaken next year and Opportunity’s design has directly influenced its successor.

Timed for a July or August launch, the as of yet unnamed rover will be used to seek signs of habitable conditions on Mars.

The mission will look for both ancient signs of life on the Red Planet and currently existing microorganisms.

Opportunity’s exploration has lead NASA engineers to add some upgrades to the new model, including a drill for sample collection and a cache store them.

source: express.co.uk