Opportunity rover stopped responding after Mars dust storm

The US Geological Survey said Opportunity stopped responding after a global dust storm covered her solar panels and left the rover unable to operate on Mars. Mission Control received no answer on Sol 5111, February 13, 2019.

The rover was formally named Opportunity and nicknamed Oppy. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab created her as a robot geologist assigned to find water and evidence for past life on Mars. She was six-wheeled and solar-powered.

Oppy was 1.5 meters high, 2.3 meters wide and 1.6 meters long. She had a mass of 185 kilograms. The Delta II Heavy launch vehicle carried her from Launch Complex 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 7 July 2003 at 11:18:15 PM, Eastern daylight time.

Oppy survived the landing and began searching for evidence of ancient water in Eagle crater. She later entered Endurance crater and became the first stratigrapher on Mars. She then traveled toward Victoria crater.

On April 26, 2005, sand in Meridiani Planum trapped Oppy’s wheels about four inches deep. It took five weeks of strategy, testing and defensive driving to free her. Oppy later continued working in Perseverance Valley and had survived a similar dust storm in 2007.

By then, it was 14 going on 15 years after landing, much longer than the predicted 90-sol tour. Dust and sand settled on Oppy’s solar panels, reducing the sunlight available to recharge her batteries. After the storm subsided, Mission Control issued more than a thousand commands but received no answer.