This scene from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looks back toward part of the west rim of Endeavour Crater that the rover drove along, heading southward, during the summer of 2014.On March 20, 2004, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used a wheel to dig a trench revealing subsurface material beside the lander hardware that carried the rover to the surface of Mars 55 Martian days, or sols, earlier.This series of images shows simulated views of a darkening Martian sky blotting out the Sun from NASA's Opportunity rover's point of view.The small spherules on the Martian surface in this close-up image are near Fram Crater, visited by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during April 2004. These are examples of the mineral concretions nicknamed "blueberries."
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This scene from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looks back toward part of the west rim of Endeavour Crater that the rover drove along, heading southward, during the summer of 2014.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ.
On March 20, 2004, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used a wheel to dig a trench revealing subsurface material beside the lander hardware that carried the rover to the surface of Mars 55 Martian days, or sols, earlier.NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU
This series of images shows simulated views of a darkening Martian sky blotting out the Sun from NASA's Opportunity rover's point of view.NASA/JPL-Caltech/TAMU
The small spherules on the Martian surface in this close-up image are near Fram Crater, visited by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during April 2004. These are examples of the mineral concretions nicknamed "blueberries."NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/USGS/Cathy Weitz
Feb. 14, 2019
Feature Story

Opportunity Rover Mission Comes to an End

Opportunity Rover on Mars declared inoperative

NASA has announced that the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has completed its 15 years of exploration on the surface of Mars. In June of 2018, Opportunity was enveloped by a massive dust storm on Mars and was unable to use its solar panels to recharge its batteries. The final signal from Opportunity was received on June 10, 2018, and engineers have now made their final attempt to restore contact.

Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, were launched in the summer of 2003. Both rovers far outlasted their original missions to become some of the longest-lived and most successful interplanetary explorers to date. Designed to last just three martian months, Opportunity spent 15 years gathering data on Mars. The rover has provided invaluable results that will shape the future of Mars exploration for decades.

Opportunity features in Issue #2 of the Astrobiology Graphic History, available at: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/resources/graphic-histories/.

Issue# 2 of Astrobiology: The Story of our Search for Life in the Universe. Missions to Mars. Available at: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/resources/graphic-histories/
Issue# 2 of Astrobiology: The Story of our Search for Life in the Universe. Missions to Mars. Available at: https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/resources/graphic-histories/Image credit: NASA Astrobiology Program.

From NASA:

NASA’s Record-Setting Opportunity Rover Mission on Mars Comes to End

One of the most successful and enduring feats of interplanetary exploration, NASA’s Opportunity rover mission is at an end after almost 15 years exploring the surface of Mars and helping lay the groundwork for NASA’s return to the Red Planet.

The Opportunity rover stopped communicating with Earth when a severe Mars-wide dust storm blanketed its location in June 2018. After more than a thousand commands to restore contact, engineers in the Space Flight Operations Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) made their last attempt to revive Opportunity Tuesday, to no avail. The solar-powered rover’s final communication was received June 10.

“It is because of trailblazing missions such as Opportunity that there will come a day when our brave astronauts walk on the surface of Mars,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “And when that day arrives, some portion of that first footprint will be owned by the men and women of Opportunity, and a little rover that defied the odds and did so much in the name of exploration.”

The dramatic image of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's shadow was taken on sol 180 (July 26, 2004) by the rover's front hazard-avoidance camera as the rover moved farther into Endurance Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars.
The dramatic image of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's shadow was taken on sol 180 (July 26, 2004) by the rover's front hazard-avoidance camera as the rover moved farther into Endurance Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars.Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Designed to last just 90 Martian days and travel 1,100 yards (1,000 meters), Opportunity vastly surpassed all expectations in its endurance, scientific value and longevity. In addition to exceeding its life expectancy by 60 times, the rover traveled more than 28 miles (45 kilometers) by the time it reached its most appropriate final resting spot on Mars – Perseverance Valley.

“For more than a decade, Opportunity has been an icon in the field of planetary exploration, teaching us about Mars’ ancient past as a wet, potentially habitable planet, and revealing uncharted Martian landscapes,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “Whatever loss we feel now must be tempered with the knowledge that the legacy of Opportunity continues – both on the surface of Mars with the Curiosity rover and InSight lander – and in the clean rooms of JPL, where the upcoming Mars 2020 rover is taking shape.

Click here to read the full NASA release.

Artist impression of the Opportunity rover, one of NASA twin Mars Exploration Rovers.
Artist impression of the Opportunity rover, one of NASA twin Mars Exploration Rovers.Image credit: NASA.

Additional Links:
Mars Exploration Rovers MIssions Page (NASA Astrobiology)
Rover Team Beaming New Commands to Opportunity on Mars (NASAJPL)
Six Things to Know About NASA’s Opportunity Mars Rover (NASAJPL)
NASA to Share Results of Effort to Recover Mars Rover (Mars Exploration Program)
Send a Postcard to Opportunity
Mars Exploration Rovers: Top Science Results (NASA)