Opportunity Updates
Opportunity's Mission Is Complete
sols 5347 to 5353, Feb. 7, 2019 - Feb. 13, 2019No response has been received from Opportunity since Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018), amid a planet-encircling dust storm on Mars. With the last uplink transmission on Sol 5352 (Feb. 12, 2019), the rover recovery efforts are concluded. The Opportunity mission is complete.
The team will begin the project close out phase. A NASA press conference was held on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, to report on the end of the rover mission.
Total odometry is 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers).
For mission highlights and resources, visit the mission website. You can also send the Opportunity rover and team a postcard.
More Than 835 Recovery Commands Have Been Sent To Opportunity
sols 5340 to 5346, Jan. 31, 2019 - Feb. 6, 2019Mars atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site is estimated to be somewhere in the range of 0.9 to 1.3.
No signal from Opportunity has been heard since Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018) during the historic global dust storm. Opportunity likely experienced a low-power fault, a mission clock fault and an up-loss timer fault. The team is continuing to listen for the rover over a broad range of times, frequencies and polarizations using the Deep Space Network (DSN) Radio Science Receiver.
The team has begun mission clock fault recovery commanding "in the blind," in the hopes of catching the rover during an awake period, as their strategy of last resort. Since loss of signal, over 835 recovery commands have been radiated to the rover.
Total odometry is unchanged at 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers).
Opportunity Marks 15 Years On Mars
sols 5333 to 5339, Jan. 24, 2019 - Jan. 30, 2019Mars atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site is uncertain due to recent storm activity.
No signal from Opportunity has been heard since Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018) during the historic global dust storm. Opportunity likely experienced a low-power fault, a mission clock fault and an up-loss timer fault. The team is continuing to listen for the rover over a broad range of times, frequencies and polarizations using the Deep Space Network (DSN) Radio Science Receiver.
The team is continuing to command "sweep and beeps" throughout each daily DSN pass to address a possible complexity with certain conditions within mission clock fault on the rover. Since loss of signal, over 600 recovery commands have been radiated to the rover.
Total odometry is unchanged at 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers).
Over 600 Recovery Commands Have Been Sent To Opportunity
sols 5326 to 5332, Jan. 16, 2019 - Jan. 22, 2019Mars atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site is uncertain due to recent storm activity.
No signal from Opportunity has been heard since Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018) during the historic global dust storm. Opportunity likely experienced a low-power fault, a mission clock fault and an up-loss timer fault. The team is continuing to listen for the rover over a broad range of times, frequencies and polarizations using the Deep Space Network (DSN) Radio Science Receiver.
The team is continuing to command "sweep and beeps" throughout each daily DSN pass to address a possible complexity with certain conditions within mission clock fault on the rover. Since loss of signal, over 600 recovery commands have been radiated to the rover.
Total odometry is unchanged at 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers).
Seven Months Without A Signal From Opportunity
sols 5319 to 5325, Jan. 9, 2019 - Jan. 15, 2019Mars atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site is uncertain due to recent dust storm activity, although the tau is predicted to be closer to 1.0.
No signal from Opportunity has been heard since Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018), during the historic global dust storm. Opportunity likely experienced a low-power fault, a mission clock fault and an up-loss timer fault. The team is continuing to listen for the rover over a broad range of times, frequencies and polarizations using the Deep Space Network (DSN) Radio Science Receiver.
The team is continuing to command "sweep and beeps" throughout each daily DSN pass with both right-hand and left-hand circular polarization to address a possible complexity with certain conditions within mission clock fault on the rover. Since loss of signal, 604 recovery commands have been radiated to the rover.
Total odometry is unchanged at 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers).
Dust Storm Activity Appears To Pick Up South Of Opportunity
sols 5300 to 5318, Dec. 21, 2018 - Jan. 8, 2019Dust storm activity appears to have picked up again, with a regional storm tracking south about 124 miles (200 kilometers) to the west of Opportunity.
The storm is expected to increase in opacity (tau) at the rover site to greater than 1.5 over the next few days. No signal from Opportunity has been heard since Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018) during the historic global dust storm. Opportunity likely experienced a low-power fault, a mission clock fault and an up-loss timer fault. Since the loss of signal, the team has been listening for the rover over a broad range of times, frequencies and polarizations using the Deep Space Network (DSN) Radio Science Receiver.
They have been commanding "sweep and beeps" throughout each daily DSN pass with both right-hand and left-hand circular polarization to address a possible complexity with certain conditions within mission clock fault on the rover. They have expanded the breath of "sweep and beeps" commanding covering more times of day on Mars.
Mars is now in the seasonal period of past dust clearing events for the rover. Since loss of signal, 560 recovery commands have been radiated to the rover.
Total odometry is unchanged at 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers).
