Today Is The Bittersweet 15th Anniversary Of The Opportunity Rover Landing On Mars
“In hindsight, Opportunity's demise could have been avoided. If one extra piece of equipment, such as a compressed air blower aboard a robotic arm, were installed, dusty solar panels could have been cleaned at will. Hunkering down to survive a dust storm, even one that blocked 100% of the light, wouldn't be catastrophic so long as the rovers had enough power stored in their batteries to control and operate the blower mechanism.
Had that been in place, Spirit could have saved itself from its 2010 fate, and Opportunity wouldn't have suffered its likely 2018 demise. Still, even though hindsight is 20/20, it's pretty hard to be sad about two missions that overachieved beyond anyone's expectations.
Happy anniversary, Opportunity. Although no one's expecting your return, you exceeded everyone's expectations. Mars and Earth both are so much richer for what you've brought us, and today, after 15 years on the red planet, we celebrate you.”
Is it weird to have a favorite robotic rover? Well, I’m weird, then. The Opportunity rover, launched in 2003, landed on Mars on January 25th, 2004. Ever since that time, we’ve celebrated every anniversary with an operational Opportunity, but this time is different. The great dust storm of 2018 has, we feared, killed Opportunity and rendered it forever inoperable. Still, its anniversary is worth celebrating.
Take a look back with me on all it’s accomplished, and enjoy the greatest hits (according to me) of what Opportunity has achieved and left as its legacy!
