15 years on Mars. Mars Rover “opportunity” and his wanderings
15 years ago the machine “opportunity” was successfully transported to Mars in the framework of the Mars Exploration Rover. “Opportunity” was to stay on the planet for 90 sols (92.5 the earth days), but in the end was delayed by 14 years and spent a large amount of research.
The analysis of the planet’s surface confirmed the hypothesis that on Mars there was favorable conditions for life.
The news
Billions of years ago some of the stones were in the flow of fresh water — previously it was thought that liquid on Mars if there was, it was more like sulphuric acid. Also “opportunity” and found several meteorites on the surface of Mars — also for the first time in history, said the composition of the atmosphere of the planet and conducted astronomical observations. For the first time, geologists have been able to get close to the rocks on another planet and see them up close.
In early June, 2018 on Mars was a big dust storms within a few weeks of “opportunity” did not receive sufficient power from the solar battery to maintain a connection with the Earth. The last successful session was held on 10 June 2018. Since then, the Rover was silent, and NASA continues to monitor its location and likely again get in touch.