Opportunity was a Mars Exploration Rover launched on July 7th 2003. It touched down on Mars’ surface on January 25th 2004 and was functional for 14 years and 138 days.
Opportunity was built with the objective of studying the mineralogy and past geological processes that shaped the Mars surface. It was meant to last only for 92.5 Earth days but ended up lasting for 57 times as long. With the help of Opportunity, it is now possible to look for and characterize a variety of rocks and remnants that may include information on previous water activity on Mars. Opportunity has collected astronomical observations and atmospheric data in addition to studying the water.
The rover’s solar panels stopped producing enough power to support communications within a few days after a significant dust storm formed in early June 2018. The last contact was made on June 10, 2018. Since losing signal in June 2018 to the February 13, 2019 more than 1000 recovery commands have been sent. On February 13, NASA representatives held a news conference to formally announce the mission’s completion. The last data sent from NASA was the song “I’ll Be Seeing You” performed by Billie Holiday.
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