Curiosity Reaches 8 Years on Mars

It's impressive, but it's still got 6 years before it matches Opportunity. NASA really knows how to make its Mars rovers, it seems, and we can only hope Perseverance, the new rover recently launched, has just as much good luck as its older siblings.

Opportunity Rolls On

It is absolutely incredible that I can sit here in 2017 and still talk about Opportunity. The rover's been on Mars for more than 13 years now, going along, doing its thing. And in case you've forgotten, the original mission was for 90 days. We're now at something like day 4,843.

The news from Opportunity today is that it's moving on from an area around Endeavor Crater called "Cape Tribulation", a 3 mile long raised edge, to an area called "Perseverance Valley", a location where it appears a liquid of some sort (probably water), actively carved out a channel. The distance is a few hundred yards. Doesn't sound like much, but remember, this rover doesn't move fast. It's only covered 27.6 miles in that 13 year time period.

I'll admit, this is the hugest news in the world, but I just think it's worth mentioning occasionally just how ridiculous this rover is. It has completed its mission objectives dozens of times over, and despite some difficulties, keeps on going. It's about as inspiring as a 400 pound robot could possibly be.

Opportunity's Still Going

It's been more than ten years since Opportunity landed on Mars, and the rover's still going at it, still sending back useful data, still trundling along at the incredibly rapid pace of a couple inches a second...at maximum speed.  Hey, over ten years, that adds up to, well, not that much.  A bit over 25 miles, which does surpass the record for most distance traveled on an off-world surface.

After so long on Mars, it's only natural that Opportunity has developed a few problems.  Frankly, it's amazing that none of those problems have stopped it, but they haven't.  In the past couple of months, the rover's been having computer trouble.  It's needed rebooting a dozen times, and the time has come for a drastic solution.  A complete memory wipe.  That will get rid of the glitches slowing Opportunity down, and allow it to get back to the mission.  According to NASA, this is a low-risk procedure, and Opportunity should be just fine.  It'll probably run better than it has in years.  So, hopefully nothing to worry about for the tough little rover.