Yes it’s still roving, after 15 years. But facing a big threat, a giant dust storm.

https://www.axios.com/dust-storm-threatens-mars-opportunity-rover-1a62a0a7-5e6a-426d-941a-3406840a7b99.html

The dust storm is blocking the sunlight that the rover needs in order to charge its batteries, forcing it to go into an emergency mode to conserve energy.

Why it matters: The ongoing dust storm is no ordinary tempest, it’s reached a severity that has not been seen before in the nearly two decades of detailed observations.

The dust storm was first spotted by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on May 30. The storm began limiting the amount of sunlight reaching the rover on June 3, with an atmospheric opacity level at a record 10.8 by June 9. This means that day had effectively turned into night on Mars.

It could have so little power left in the near future that its clock will shut down.

A new rover, known as Insight, is on the way to Mars.

mollwollfumble said:

Yes it’s still roving, after 15 years. But facing a big threat, a giant dust storm.

https://www.axios.com/dust-storm-threatens-mars-opportunity-rover-1a62a0a7-5e6a-426d-941a-3406840a7b99.html

The dust storm is blocking the sunlight that the rover needs in order to charge its batteries, forcing it to go into an emergency mode to conserve energy.

Why it matters: The ongoing dust storm is no ordinary tempest, it’s reached a severity that has not been seen before in the nearly two decades of detailed observations.

The dust storm was first spotted by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on May 30. The storm began limiting the amount of sunlight reaching the rover on June 3, with an atmospheric opacity level at a record 10.8 by June 9. This means that day had effectively turned into night on Mars.

It could have so little power left in the near future that its clock will shut down.

A new rover, known as Insight, is on the way to Mars.

So they still don’t know? Yesterday the news was supposedly imminent.

mollwollfumble said:

Yes it’s still roving, after 15 years. But facing a big threat, a giant dust storm.

https://www.axios.com/dust-storm-threatens-mars-opportunity-rover-1a62a0a7-5e6a-426d-941a-3406840a7b99.html

The dust storm is blocking the sunlight that the rover needs in order to charge its batteries, forcing it to go into an emergency mode to conserve energy.

Why it matters: The ongoing dust storm is no ordinary tempest, it’s reached a severity that has not been seen before in the nearly two decades of detailed observations.

The dust storm was first spotted by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on May 30. The storm began limiting the amount of sunlight reaching the rover on June 3, with an atmospheric opacity level at a record 10.8 by June 9. This means that day had effectively turned into night on Mars.

It could have so little power left in the near future that its clock will shut down.

A new rover, known as Insight, is on the way to Mars.

was this the one where we all put our names in and they sent a list up with it?

Needs a fold over cover like on old fashioned cars..

or pop up umbrella fold out thing.

Mission duration
Planned: 92.5 days
Current: 5254 days.

Maybe after the dust storm another wind might blow some of the dust off?

Tau.Neutrino said:

Needs a fold over cover like on old fashioned cars..

or pop up umbrella fold out thing.

Or the ability to shake itself like a dog.

mollwollfumble said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Needs a fold over cover like on old fashioned cars..

or pop up umbrella fold out thing.

Or the ability to shake itself like a dog.

or robot arm with solar powered compressed mars air

Its twin, Spirit, died eight years ago. On 20 March 2010.

Tau.Neutrino said:

mollwollfumble said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Needs a fold over cover like on old fashioned cars..

or pop up umbrella fold out thing.

Or the ability to shake itself like a dog.

or robot arm with solar powered compressed mars air

and or solar battery power electric charge the surface to repel particles or from a battery near the solar panels

its the solar panels and cameras that need it not the whole rover

so it can be kept small to reduce power consumption

Bubblecar said:

mollwollfumble said:

Yes it’s still roving, after 15 years. But facing a big threat, a giant dust storm.

https://www.axios.com/dust-storm-threatens-mars-opportunity-rover-1a62a0a7-5e6a-426d-941a-3406840a7b99.html

The dust storm is blocking the sunlight that the rover needs in order to charge its batteries, forcing it to go into an emergency mode to conserve energy.

Why it matters: The ongoing dust storm is no ordinary tempest, it’s reached a severity that has not been seen before in the nearly two decades of detailed observations.

The dust storm was first spotted by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on May 30. The storm began limiting the amount of sunlight reaching the rover on June 3, with an atmospheric opacity level at a record 10.8 by June 9. This means that day had effectively turned into night on Mars.

It could have so little power left in the near future that its clock will shut down.

A new rover, known as Insight, is on the way to Mars.

So they still don’t know? Yesterday the news was supposedly imminent.

According to one website, we won’t know until “several weeks” after June 12.

Tau.Neutrino said:

mollwollfumble said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Needs a fold over cover like on old fashioned cars..

or pop up umbrella fold out thing.

Or the ability to shake itself like a dog.

or robot arm with solar powered compressed mars air

or even a brush

but the important thing is it has its own little solar panels and battery so it can function when needed.

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

mollwollfumble said:

Or the ability to shake itself like a dog.

or robot arm with solar powered compressed mars air

or even a brush

but the important thing is it has its own little solar panels and battery so it can function when needed.

or even something like windscreen wipers on the solar panels and cameras

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

or robot arm with solar powered compressed mars air

or even a brush

but the important thing is it has its own little solar panels and battery so it can function when needed.

or even something like windscreen wipers on the solar panels and cameras

They solved the problem with the next rover, Curiosity.
They powered it with beautiful nuclear energy.

Peak Warming Man said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

or even a brush

but the important thing is it has its own little solar panels and battery so it can function when needed.

or even something like windscreen wipers on the solar panels and cameras

They solved the problem with the next rover, Curiosity.
They powered it with beautiful nuclear energy.

Yes, there’s that too.

Forgot about that.

They have developed very small nuclear batteries with 25 year + lifespans.

Mars rover Opportunity knocked out as giant dust storm envelops planet
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-14/mars-rover-knocked-out-as-gigantic-dust-storm-envelops-planet/9871202

Tau.Neutrino said:

Mars rover Opportunity knocked out as giant dust storm envelops planet
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-14/mars-rover-knocked-out-as-gigantic-dust-storm-envelops-planet/9871202

It’s sad, but this is a rover that has returned many years worth of useful data, veeery long after its predicted working life.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-14/mars-rover-knocked-out-as-gigantic-dust-storm-envelops-planet/9871202

“There is no chance of Opportunity being buried or getting a wheel stuck in dust. Even in the worst of storms, only a layer of fine dust is left behind.”

Peak Warming Man said:

They solved the problem with the next rover, Curiosity.
They powered it with beautiful nuclear energy.

What’s weird is they powered Juno by solar power, after all the previous visitors to Jupiter used nuclear energy. Perhaps they temporarily ran out of plutonium-238.

mollwollfumble said:

Mission duration
Planned: 92.5 days
Current: 5254 days.

“Washington DC’s” ?
What sort of a measurement is that? Surely the standard SI unit is football fields. (or Sydney harbours/olympic pools if measuring liquid)

gaghalfrunt said:

mollwollfumble said:

Mission duration
Planned: 92.5 days
Current: 5254 days.

“Washington DC’s” ?
What sort of a measurement is that? Surely the standard SI unit is football fields. (or Sydney harbours/olympic pools if measuring liquid)

Probably handy if you want funding for NASA. That’s where the money is.