NASA sent Spirit and Opportunity to Mars for a three-month tour. The rovers had other ideas. Even though Spirit landed in the harsh environs of Gusev Crater, she lived more than six years, sent home 128,000 raw images, roved and hiked for 7.72 kilometers (4.8 miles), and sent home a couple of the mission’s “greatest science hits.” Opportunity is 14 years old and has sent home more than 250,000 raw images, driven 45.09 kilometers (28.02 miles), has delivered a few of her “greatest science hits” and is still roving.
The discoveries of Spirit and Opportunity also helped to inform the choice of instruments and landing site for Curiosity, which continues to make discoveries of her own in Gale crater. “This ‘symbiotic’ relationship is a result of NASA having a true Mars Program, where one mission can influence the next, and the pace of exploration is sustained over many years,” Bell said.

Deep in the west rim of Endeavour Crater, Opportunity spent New Year’s Day recharging and taking a brief respite in her winter exploration of Perseverance Valley. From her position just uphill from a fork or split in the primary trough or channel in the valley, imaged everything in sight and then took Yogi Berra’s advice and took the fork in the road and entered a rock-filled scene unlike any other the mission has explored.

“Mars continues to surprise us,” said Deputy Principal Investigator Ray Arvidson, of Washington University St. Louis (WUSTL). “We’re seeing stuff we’ve never seen before, we have new science objectives, and there will be brand new discoveries. Perseverance Valley really is a brand new mission and we’re right on top of it trying to get the data to answer the key questions.”

Mars, apparently, approves. A series of wind gusts coming up from the floor of the crater whisked a substantial amount of dust from the solar-powered rover’s arrays in January, leaving them almost clean. “Our energy has jumped way up,” confirmed MER Power Team Lead Jennifer Herman. “I’ve been hoping we would see some dust cleaning, but I wasn’t expecting to see this. We’re in really good shape.”

So as Opportunity continues her trek through Perseverance Valley and into Year 15 of roving Mars, the future, all things considered, is as bright as it could possibly give...and the mission is poised to command the headlines again in the New Year.

 In the beginning...
NASA / JPL-Caltech / Kennedy Space Center

IN THE BEGINNING...
The image on the left shows Opportunity (left) and Spirit (right) in their creation phase at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), a NASA center. Image on the right was taken on April 15, 2003, prelaunch at Kennedy Space Center in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, shows technicians reopening the lander petals of Opportunity’s spacecraft to allow access to one of the circuit boards. Once fixed, the rover was packed up again and cleared for launch.