Opportunity

Spacecraft· NASAinactive

Opportunity (MER-B) — roamed Meridiani Planum for 14 years (2004–2018), confirming ancient liquid water on Mars.

Open in 3D viewSee Opportunity in the live, interactive 3D map

Key facts

Distance from Sun

1.5 AU

Status

Completed

Launched

2003

Mission & specifications

Mission

Operator: NASA
Launched: July 7, 2003
Status: Completed

Trajectory

Distance from the Sun: 1.5 AU
Distance from Earth: 1.9 AU
Distance from Mars: 2,500,300 km

Mission

Opportunity was Spirit's twin, and became the longest-lived and most far-travelled rover of its era — a machine built for 90 days that worked for almost fifteen years. Launched on 7 July 2003, it landed on 25 January 2004 at Meridiani Planum and, in a stroke of luck mission scientists called an interplanetary hole-in-one, rolled to a stop inside a small crater whose exposed bedrock was waiting to be read. Within weeks Opportunity had found its prize: tiny spherules of the iron mineral hematite, nicknamed 'blueberries', and finely layered rock that had clearly been laid down in liquid water. It was the first hard, on-the-ground proof that ancient Mars had been wet. Over the years the rover trundled from crater to ever-larger crater — Endurance, Victoria, and finally the vast Endeavour, where in 2011 it found clay minerals formed in gentler, more neutral water that might once have been habitable. In March 2015 it became the first machine to complete a marathon's distance, over 42 kilometres, on another world. A planet-encircling dust storm in June 2018 finally blotted out the Sun and drained its batteries; its last message came on 10 June 2018, and the mission was declared complete in early 2019.

2003Launch toward MarsLaunch
Spirit's twin sets out for Meridiani Planum on the other side of Mars.
2004A hole-in-one into Eagle craterLanding
Rolls to a stop inside a small crater with bedrock conveniently exposed.
2004'Blueberries' confirm ancient waterMilestone
Hematite spherules and layered rock prove liquid water once stood at Meridiani.
2011Reaches Endeavour craterMilestone
Finds clay minerals formed in gentler, neutral water that may once have been habitable.
2015First marathon on another worldMilestone
Becomes the first machine to drive a marathon's distance — over 42 km — off Earth.
2018Silenced by a dust stormMission end
A planet-wide storm drains its batteries after almost fifteen years of exploration.

Images

Two Years Before Mission Success — NASA/JPL · NASA Image Library

One Year Before Mission Success — NASA/JPL · NASA Image Library

Overview of Approach to Victoria — NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS · NASA Image Library

Opportunity View After Sol 321 Drive 3-D — NASA/JPL · NASA Image Library

Three Generations of Rovers with Crouching Engineers — NASA/JPL-Caltech · NASA Image Library

Martian Freedom 7 Crater 50 Years After Freedom 7 Flight — NASA/JPL-Caltech · NASA Image Library

Opportunity launches on a Delta II, July 2003 — NASA/KSC · NASA Image Library

Martian Freedom 7 Crater 50 Years After Freedom 7 Flight Stereo — NASA/JPL-Caltech · NASA Image Library

Images from open archives · credit shown per image