NASA’s Rover Ends Mission after 15 Years

 

The American space agency NASA had expected its rover called Opportunity to operate on Mars for just 90 days. But the vehicle kept exploring for 15 years after landing on the red planet.

Opportunity landed on Mars in 2004. Scientists finally lost contact with the solar-powered vehicle in June 2018 during a severe dust storm on Mars. Engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) sent more than a thousand commands, trying to re-establish contact. But they did not have success.

After one last attempt this week, NASA’s head of science mission, Thomas Zurbuchen, declared “Opportunity mission is completed.”

Zurbuchen said that, for many years, Opportunity has been “teaching us about Mars' ancient past as a wet, potentially habitable planet, and revealing uncharted Martian landscapes.”

It took Opportunity seven months to travel from Earth to the Meridiani Planum area on Mars. It landed on January 24, 2004. Its twin rover, Spirit, landed 20 days earlier on the other side of Mars. Spirit’s mission ended in May 2011.

From the day that Opportunity landed, a team of mission engineers and scientists on Earth worked to move the explorer around -- and at times over -- rocks and boulders¹. It climbed huge hills, explored craters³ and traveled across dry riverbeds.

Along the way, Opportunity sent more than 217,000 images. It examined 52 rocks, found fresh minerals and discovered signs of water flowing at a place called Endeavour Crater². It was similar to a lake on Earth.

Steve Squyres of Cornell University works on the rovers' science payload. He said, "From the get-go, Opportunity delivered on our search for evidence regarding water” on Mars. He added, “if you look to [Mars] ancient past, you find compelling evidence for liquid water below the surface and liquid water at the surface."

It was not always easy for Opportunity.

The rover lost the ability to fully⁴ control one of its front wheels in 2005. It was almost disabled in two sand storms. And in 2015, Opportunity lost the use of its flash memory. Two years later, the rover lost control of its other front wheel.

Each time, Opportunity's team on Earth found a solution that let the rover keep going. However, last summer’s dust storm proved to be too much. Opportunity’s final resting place was in Perseverance⁵ Valley.

Opportunity was the fifth NASA rover to successfully land on Mars. Only two are still operating. The Curiosity has been exploring Gale⁶ Crater since 2012. And the Insight just landed last November.

The United States, China and Europe are planning to send three more rovers next year.

NASA Administrator⁷ Jim Bridenstine said the goal is to search for evidence of life on Mars and, possibly, to send astronauts in the 2030s.

Bridenstine said, "It is because of trailblazing missions such as Opportunity that there will come a day when our brave astronauts walk on the surface of Mars."

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

rover - n. a vehicle used for exploring the surface of a moon, planet ...

potentially - adv. capable of becoming real

habitable - adj. suitable or fit to live in

revealing - adj. giving information about something that was not known before

crater - n. a large round hole on the ground

compelling - adj. strong and forceful

trailblazing - n. a person who makes, does, or discovers something new

1 boulders   

n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾

参考例句：

• Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

3 craters   

n.火山口( crater的名词复数 )；弹坑等

参考例句：

• Small meteorites have left impact craters all over the planet's surface. 这个行星的表面布满了小块陨石留下的撞击坑。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The battlefield was full of craters made by exploding shells. 战场上布满弹坑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

6 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

7 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。