He was only supposed to work for 90 days. 13 years of Opportunity on Mars

The Opportunity rover, actually the Mars Exploration Rover-B (MER-B), was launched in July 2003. It landed on the Red Planet on January 25, 2004. Since then, MER-B has been sending invaluable information about Mars to the.

GóOpportunity’s primary task was to study the composition of Martian rocks. With the information collected, scientists have hypothesized that liquid water once existed on the Red Planet. PóLater, the rover has repeatedly provided evidence of its past existence on the planet. MER-B also collected data on the atmosphere of Mars. To this, he made a number of astronomical observations, whichórych could not be carried out from Earth.

Opportunity is currently near the slope of Endeavour Crater, near Marathon Valley. Below is one of the latest photos of the area, in whichórej is located by the rover, taken on December 19, 2016.

Photo. NASA/JPL/Cornell/Ken Kremer

Opportnity has already exceeded its planned mission time by more than fifty times. It is constantly sending data on the planet’s geological and chemical past.

And this is how its adventure with Mars began. Below is a mosaic made from photos taken shortly after landing on the Red Planet on January 25, 2004, and a video made to celebrate the 13. Birthday of the rover, depicting an engineeróin daily operation with the Opportunity rover.