Opportunity Rover

Opportunity, MER-B (Mars Exploration Rover – B), is a robotic rover active on the planet Mars since 2004. Launched on July 7, 2003, Opportunity landed on Mars' Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004 at 05:05 Ground UTC (about 13:15 Mars local time), three weeks after its twin Spirit (MER-A), also part of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission, touched down on the other side of the planet.[4] While Spirit became immobile in 2009 and ceased communications in 2010, Opportunity remains active as of 2013, having already exceeded its planned 90 sol (Martian days) duration of activity by 70009000000000000009 years, 700147000000000000047 days (in Earth time). Opportunity has continued to move, gather scientific observations, and report back to Earth for over 37 times its designed lifespan.

For more information about Opportunity Rover check the Wikipedia article here

ZME Science posts about Opportunity Rover

Mars researchers find ‘strongest evidence’ that Mars supported life

Mon, Jan 21, 2013

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Exobiologists have found what they believe to be the clearest evidence that Mars supported life – though it may not seem obvious at a first glance. The research published in Nature Geoscience shows all the needed ingredients for life in a huge crater that goes up to 5km below the planet’s surface. The McLaughlin crater, [...]

Mars covered in oceans of water: how the red planet might have looked billions of years ago [FANTASTIC PHOTOS]

Mon, Jan 7, 2013

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There seems to be consisting evidence supplied both by past and recent rover missions – like the ever sturdy Opportunity, the eager newcomer Curiosity – and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – a spacecraft currently hovering over Mars – that our neighboring red planet was once most likely covered by oceans and lakes and was layered by a thick [...]

Curiosity drill malfunction could fry the rover’s electronics and jeopardize the entire mission

Tue, Dec 11, 2012

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The Mars Curiosity rover is preparing to use its drilling tool for the first time, however as preparations for the operation are being carefully made, NASA engineers are frightened that a potential malfunction of the boring drill might cause an entire electrical disaster. This might mean that the entire rover could get irrecoverably fried. The issue lies [...]

Tiny Martian spherical rocks puzzle scientists and shifts attention back to Opportunity

Mon, Sep 17, 2012

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In the past couple of months, all Mars-related attention has been almost unanimously shifted towars the Curiosity rover. Not to discredit any of its achievements thus far, which are just appetizers for marvelous fings to come off Curiosity, but the Opportunity rover has been trailing the Martian surface for the past eight years now, long [...]

Mars Curiosity rover bound for Mars crater landing soon

Thu, Jun 14, 2012

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The most sophisticated rover developed by NASA to date, the Mars Curiosity rover, is set to land on the red planet in August. During its one year mission, the rover’s main objective is that of investigating for signs that might hint towards the presence of life, past or present, on Mars. Scientists have unanimously agreed [...]

Rover snaps self-shot and Mars panorama [STUNNING PHOTO]

Thu, May 24, 2012

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After a long and well deserved “hibernation”, the Mars Opportunity Rover was guided out of the rim of the massive Endeavour crater a few weeks ago, where it sat winter out. Before it left though, the Opportunity Rover used its panoramic camera to take about a dozen shots using an assortment of filters of its surroundings. The images [...]

NASA parks Mars Opportunity Rover for the winter

Mon, Jan 9, 2012

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There’s no bigger drag on a busy Monday morning than finding your car under a heap of snow in the driveway. Taking measures and parking it under some kind shelter, if possible, would be advised if you don’t plan on driving an ice truck. Take NASA for instance, which, like every year, has routed the [...]

NASA Opportunity Rover finds traces of flowing water on Mars

Thu, Dec 8, 2011

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NASA’s famous rover, Opportunity, seems to have stumbled upon clear evidence that water used to flow on Mars, a long long time ago. Opportunity was prowling around the Meridiani Planum on Mars, looking at hematite (an iron oxide) when it stumbled upon something which delighted researchers: gypsum. Why is this vein of gypsum so important [...]

NASA’s Curiosity Rover prep to head for Mars

Tue, Nov 15, 2011

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In a week filled with bad news for space exploration, astronomers finally have something to be happy about: the Mars Curiosity rover is ready to head towards the Red Planet, as NASA makes the final preparations for a launch scheduled for November 25. The rover is currently waiting patiently ontop an Atlas V rocket, just [...]

Take a three year trip on Mars alongside the Opportunity Rover

Tue, Oct 11, 2011

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A virtual trek, that is. NASA has just released a stunning video comprised of 309 photos the agency’s Opportunity Rover took during it’s three year journey from the crater Victoria to the crater Endeavor. Although the spanned distance is only 13 miles, the whole trip lasted a whooping three years. Granted, a relatively animated view [...]

The Spirit Rover’s last transmitted image from Mars

Wed, Jun 1, 2011

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Captioned above is the very last piece of transmitted imagery by the now defunct Mars Spirit Rover (rest its soul; HA!), before the harsh Martian winter forced it into submission; and it’s quite the vista as well – the Columbia Hills. This was transmitted during Spirit’s  2,175th sol on Mars, when it got stuck in [...]

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