No matter how handy we are, we eventually have to realize that nothing lasts forever. There are only so many times we can keep fixing something before we have to finally accept that it’s broken beyond repair.
And when a machine breaks on Mars, that point comes a whole lot sooner than usual.
Since the whole point of, say, a Mars rover is to do a job that’s too difficult to logistically expect from humans, it’s just going to have to stay dormant there.
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Sadly, it seems that fate has befallen the Opportunity rover today.
Back in June, a massive dust storm overtook the rover and caused NASA engineers to lose contact with the device.
According to the New York Times , they struggled to re-establish contact for months before finally declaring the Opportunity mission over on Wednesday.
They actually had good reason to be hopeful for so long.
After all, it was far from the first dust storm Opportunity had weathered in its 14 years of service. One in 2014 covered the rover in red dust, but all that dust had cleared within about two months.
However, the dust that finally choked it with enough dirt to knock it out of contact was powerful enough to block out the sun for days on the red planet.
However, in the time it did have, Opportunity accomplished a great deal.
The New York Times reported that it survived 5,111 Martian days and drove a record-breaking 28 miles on the planet’s surface.
Opportunity was hard at work exploring Perseverance Valley right up until the end, judging by the last images NASA received from the rover.
Of course, the social media reactions began to pour in almost immediately after the news broke.
Rick Wilson really did it up with this one.
Dan Rather had a more eloquent tribute for Opportunity.
NASA made a tribute post to Opportunity, detailing the significant impact the mission had on space exploration.
The world’s favorite scientist, Bill Nye, also had something touching to say about the impact of Opportunity’s mission.
The official Twitter account of the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers even came out with a popular tribute.
The Associated Press tweeted this video of the start of this incredible mission.
However, as one mission ends, another one begins.
Five months after Opportunity went down, NASA’s InSight lander touched down on Mars. This one won’t go anywhere, but rather probe down into the planet’s inner structure.
h/t: The New York Times
