Photo: NASA/INVERSE
Two months have passed since NASA announced that one of its rovers on Mars, the Opportunity, will be in for the ride of a lifetime as it will try to survive the biggest dust storm seen in recent decades on the planet.
Affected by the lack of sunlight caused by the huge storm, Opportunity entered sometime in June minimal operations mode, essentially shutting down to protect itself. As the skies begin to clear over the Red Planet, NASA began hoping the rover will power back up and start transmitting again.
Unfortunately for NASA’s engineers, the news so far isn’t encouraging. Despite trying to raise the rover including by playing Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in the control room, there’s no response from the Opportunity.
"That's a long time to not hear from your rover, and we don't know what it's doing," Michael Staab, one of JPL’s engineers, was quoted as saying by Space.com.
"This is the first time she had stopped talking to us and not resumed communication when we expected."
The fact that NASA hasn’t given up on the rover is backed by the lack of any additional information, offered by means of an official statement. This can be a clear sign that the agency will be trying some more before officially declaring the rover lost in action.
Opportunity is perhaps the most iconic and extraordinary machines ever built by NASA. It arrived on Mars in 2004, and was supposed to be operational for only 90 days. It beat the odds and celebrated 14 years on the job this January.
Opportunity’s brother rover, the Spirit, managed to exceed it’s live expectation as well, but NASA lost contact with it in 2011.
On the other side of the planet, NASA’s other functional rover, the Curiosity, is powered by a nuclear generator instead of solar power, managed to weather the storm a lot better.
Unfortunately for NASA’s engineers, the news so far isn’t encouraging. Despite trying to raise the rover including by playing Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" in the control room, there’s no response from the Opportunity.
"That's a long time to not hear from your rover, and we don't know what it's doing," Michael Staab, one of JPL’s engineers, was quoted as saying by Space.com.
"This is the first time she had stopped talking to us and not resumed communication when we expected."
The fact that NASA hasn’t given up on the rover is backed by the lack of any additional information, offered by means of an official statement. This can be a clear sign that the agency will be trying some more before officially declaring the rover lost in action.
Opportunity is perhaps the most iconic and extraordinary machines ever built by NASA. It arrived on Mars in 2004, and was supposed to be operational for only 90 days. It beat the odds and celebrated 14 years on the job this January.
Opportunity’s brother rover, the Spirit, managed to exceed it’s live expectation as well, but NASA lost contact with it in 2011.
On the other side of the planet, NASA’s other functional rover, the Curiosity, is powered by a nuclear generator instead of solar power, managed to weather the storm a lot better.
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