It’s hard to imagine, but NASA’s Mars Exploration rover, Opportunity, has been gathering data and images on the red planet for eleven years now. Here are eleven cool facts about this robot:
- The rover has driven approximately 26 miles (42 km) since it landed on Mars on January 25, 2004.The rover was launched on July 7, 2003.The mission was originally slated to last only 3 months.Opportunity’s sister rover, Spirit, was launched three weeks later, and landed on the other side of Mars, but it subsequently got stuck in 2009, and no longer was able to function.One of Opportunity’s main mission objectives was to search for and characterize a variety of rocks and soils that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. During its time on the planet, Opportunity sent back many images of rock formations with distinct, defined textures and patterns, indicating water was present on Mars at one time. Opportunity has a decal of the American flag printed on the aluminum cable guard of the rover’s rock
abrasion tool. The aluminum used for the cable guard was recovered from the site of the twin towers in the weeks following the September 11th attacks. Workers at Honeybee Robotics in New York City, less than a mile from the World Trade Center, were making the rock abrasion tool for Opportunity and NASA’s twin Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit, in September 2001.
For more information on NASA’s Mars exploration rovers, click here.
Check out this stunning NASA video of images of Opportunity’s time on the Red Planet.
