Anniversary: Opportunity Turns 7

Today, January 25, marks the seventh anniversary of the rover Opportunity, since it landed on Mars in 2004. The machine has been conducting explorations at the planet ever since, and has contributed to our current understanding of our neighbor extensively.

Opportunity touched down on the Red Planet just three weeks after its twin spacecraft, Spirit, which arrived on January 4. The two robots have since completed the job of at least 20 exploration missions, given that they were originally due to remain active for only three months.

However, it would appear that they were engineered solidly. This made them able to withstand the cold temperatures on Mars, the planet's dust storms and intense radiation level, as well as the onslaught of dust particles that get in everywhere.

At this point, Opportunity is also nearing another impressive milestone, 2,500 sols of Martian activity. A sol is the name given to a day on the Red Planet, and it lasts for about 24 hours and 39 minutes.

No one ever expected that the two rovers would prove so enduring. Experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who manage the mission, find it difficult to believe they are still engaged in the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) mission all these years later.

What is really interesting is that both robots managed to survive, despite differences in the Martian regions where they landed. Opportunity had it a lot better off than Spirit, which needs to shut off for the Martian winter, and then restart in the spring.

The latter is currently in such a state, and JPL experts are waiting for it to resume contact. Opportunity does not need to hibernate for the winter because it landed at a lower latitude, which allows it to benefit from sufficient levels of solar radiation to continue exploration around the year.

This is precisely why it managed to travel more than 20 miles thus far, whereas Spirit drove less than 7. But, while its sister robot took the spotlight due to the battering it took without failing, Opportunity soldiered on, conducting analysis of several craters and meteorites on the Martian surface.

At this point, it is headed for the Endeavor Crater, the largest in its area. It still has a long way to go, but JPL experts say that it is possible to reach the structure this year, or the next. It all depends on what the rover comes across while driving.

Right now, it is located on the rim of the smaller Santa Maria crater, where it will remain for more than two weeks. In two days, Mars and Earth will enter an orbital alignment called a solar conjunction, which means the Red Planet will pass behind the Sun, as seen from here.

According to JPL investigators, Opportunity is doing very well for its age, and it's bound to continue providing high-quality data in the future as well. The rover is not sending data to Earth directly, they add.

In order to save power, the photos it collects are sent to the Mars Odyssey orbiter, which then relays them back home via the Deep Space Network antennas, Universe Today reports.