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Spirit and Opportunity—End of Mission

Spirit and Opportunity—End of Mission. Mission Facts-- Spirit : Known as MER-A or MER-2 Launch: June 10, 2003 Land on Mars: January 4, 2004 Landing site: Gusev crater Planned mission: 90 Martian solar days (sols)/92.5 Earth days

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Spirit and Opportunity—End of Mission

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  1. Spirit and Opportunity—End of Mission

  2. Mission Facts--Spirit: • Known as MER-A or MER-2 • Launch: June 10, 2003 • Land on Mars: January 4, 2004 • Landing site: Gusev crater • Planned mission: 90 Martian solar days (sols)/92.5 Earth days • Operational: 2208 sols from landing to last contact (6 years, 9 months, 12 days) • Distance covered: 7.73 km (4.8 miles) • End of Mission: May 25, 2011

  3. Mission Facts--Opportunity: • Known as MER-B or MER-1 • Launch: July 7, 2003 • Land on Mars: January 25, 2004 • Landing site: MeridianiPlanum • Planned mission: 90 Martian solar days (sols)/92.5 Earth days • Operational: 5352 sols from landing to mission end (15 Earth years/8 Martian years) • Distance covered: 45.16 km (28.06 miles) • End of Mission: February 13, 2019

  4. Spirit—End of Mission: • March 13, 2006: Spirit’s right front wheel ceased working; drove backwards dragging dead wheel (sol 778) • May 1, 2009: Spirit became stuck in soft soil • January 26, 2010: NASA announced the rover was irrecoverably stuck, though it continued to perform scientific research from a stationary spot • March 22, 2010: communication with Spirit stopped (sol 2208) • May 25, 2011: NASA announced mission complete

  5. Opportunity—End of Mission: • June 2018: Planet-wide dust storm on Mars • June 10, 2018: Opportunity ceased communications • June 12, 2018: Opportunity entered hibernation (it was hoped the rover would reboot once the weather cleared, but it did not, suggesting a catastrophic failure or a layer of dust had covered its solar panels) • February 13, 2019: NASA announced mission complete after the rover had failed to respond to over 1000 signals sent by NASA since August 2018

  6. Spirit and Opportunity: NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity rovers are exploration legends. The two solar-powered robots landed a few weeks apart in January 2004, then embarked on 90-day missions to search for signs of past water activity on the Red Planet. Both rovers far outlasted their warranties; Spirit was declared dead in 2011, and Opportunity kept rolling until a monster dust storm cut off its sunlight in June 2018. And they both made big discoveries that have fundamentally reshaped scientists' understanding of Mars and its environmental history.

  7. Spirit and Opportunity Discoveries: Soaked in Salty Waters Long Ago: Landing in a crater, Opportunity scored a "hole in one" by finding the mineral hematite, which typically forms in water. Water is key to life as we know it. Yet, acidic water soaked this area in Mars' ancient past, making conditions harder for life to thrive.

  8. Spirit and Opportunity Discoveries: Bathing in Neutral Water in a Warmer Climate: At a place called Comanche, Spirit found rocks ten times richer in key chemicals (magnesium and iron carbonates) than any other Martian rocks studied before. These rocks formed when Mars was warm and wet (had a thicker carbon-dioxide atmosphere and near-neutral-pH water). This warmer, watery environment could have supported life much better than the harshly acidic conditions the rover found elsewhere.

  9. Spirit and Opportunity Discoveries: Steamy Times in Ancient Hot Springs: While dragging a wheel, Spirit churned up soil and found 90 percent pure silica at "Home Plate." On Earth, this kind of silica usually exists in hot springs or hot steam vents, where life as we know it often finds a hot, happy home. Perhaps ancient microbes on Mars did as well.

  10. Spirit and Opportunity Discoveries: Explosive Signs of a Once Heated Habitat: Spirit discovered that an ancient volcano erupted at "Home Plate," the rover's final resting place. Together, powerful steam eruptions from heated underground water produced some explosive volcanism. While violent, these extreme conditions can support microbial life on Earth. Once upon a time, maybe they did on Mars...

  11. Spirit and Opportunity Discoveries: Slam-Dunk Signs of Flowing Water: Score! Near the rim of Endeavor Crater, Opportunity found bright-colored veins of gypsum in the rocks. These rocks likely formed when water flowed through underground fractures in the rocks, leaving calcium behind. A slam-dunk sign that Mars was once more hospitable to life than it is today!

  12. Spirit and Opportunity Discoveries: Compelling Clays: A Friendly Place for Life: Opportunity found compelling signs of a watery past on Mars: clay minerals formed in neutral-pH water. Of all the places studied by Opportunity, this environment at Endeavor Crater once had the friendliest conditions for ancient microbial life.

  13. Spirit and Opportunity Discoveries: Craters and the Story They Tell: Opportunity is a crater explorer. The rover has visited and studied the geology well over 100 impact craters of all sizes in its 14 years on Mars. It has learned about the lives of craters: how they form and erode through time.

  14. Spirit and Opportunity Discoveries: Long-Term Study of the Martian Environment: Opportunity has been continually monitoring Mars for more than 14 years! It has collected a wealth of scientific riches on the Martian environment by studying Mars' clouds and dust, the opacity (tau) of its atmosphere, and how it affects the solar panels (solar energy). This type of information will help inform future Mars missions.

  15. Spirit—Honors: • To commemorate Spirit’s contribution to the exploration of Mars, the asteroid 37452 Spirit has been named after the rover • To honor Spirit, the JPL team named an area near Endeavour Crater explored by the Opportunity rover, ‘Spirit Point’

  16. Opportunity—Honors: • To commemorate Opportunity’s contribution to the exploration of Mars, the asteroid 39382 Opportunity was named after the rover • July 28,2014: Opportunity had traversed over 40 km (25 miles) becoming the longest off-world distance (surpassing the previous record of 39 km (24 miles) on the Moon by the Russian rover Lunokhod 2 • March 24, 2015: NASA celebrated Opportunity • having traveled the distance on Mars of a • marathon race, 42.195 km (26.219 miles)

  17. Thank you Spirit and Opportunity

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