Opportunity acquired the frames that went into this mosaic between Nov. 19-Dec. 3, 2012 with her Pancam. Data from the CRISM instrument onboard MRO indicated the presence of remnants of ancient clay minerals on Matijevic Hill, an area of Cape York on the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover found some of those ancient clay minerals and also uncovered the oldest Martian terrain yet, which, like this pan are named for Jake Matijevic, an important and much admired member of the MER mission, as well as the other rover missions. This northwest view shows much of the loop the rover took on a walkabout to find areas for study near the crest of Cape York. To the right, you can see the flat interior of the crater.
A couple of months later, in June 2017 while finishing up work atop Perseverance, Opportunity ‘sprained an ankle.’ An actuator on her left front steering wheel stopped with the rover’s wheel toed out 33 degrees. After numerous attempts, working together the engineers and the robot got it straightened out. From that point on however, the rover would steer only with her rear wheel and drive like a tank.
Always willing, always workable, Opportunity drove into Perseverance backwards in July 2017 and, with a lot of help from her dedicated rover planners, is managing to navigate the slopes pretty well despite her new handicap. By the end of 2017, the rover was about half way down the length of Perseverance and is currently continuing research and her trek through the valley.
From the moments Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004, their reach was global and their inspiration beyond measure. Over the years, their cumulative scientific findings and engineering achievements have profoundly impacted planetary exploration, from discoveries that have informed our knowledge of Mars and rewritten textbooks to rover records that may stand for decades, a ginormous scientific pot of gold worth far more than the estimated $1 billion NASA has spent on the mission to date.
