A planet wide dust storm hit the rover last summer, covering its solar with panels and blocking out the sun, thus preventing it from recharging. After sending many commands to the rover, and after getting no response back, they called the mission complete and over.
These rovers (both Opportunity and it's sister rover Spirit) are fascinating to me. Just like all this outer space things, things like the Voyagers and the New Horizons that flew by Pluto and the Juno craft around Jupiter, among others.
I just love the idea that there are these man-made devices out there in space and always will be A lasting tribute to mankind long after we've killed ourselves by making our own planet uninhabitable.
But this plucky, yes plucky, little machine running around, over 28 miles, up there on another planet 6 months travel away, doing all these little experiments and all alone.....I think it's both amazing and somewhat sad...for the rover.
I tend to anthropomorphize things, like my cars and such, and I did so for this little rover. Especially when I saw what the last message was it sent last summer.
"My battery is low and it's getting dark."
Oh, my heart is breaking.
I KNOW it's only a machine, and I KNOW it's only stating fact. But dammit, it sounds just like she knew where she was and what was going on and what was going to happen to her. All alone, on a alien world with the end closing in....oh, such heart break.
Anyway, her time is over and she's now left to the ages. I just hope at some point in the future, mankind is able to get to Mars, physically, and when we do, I hope Opportunity, and Spirit, are both still there waiting for us and not destroyed by the Martian elements. So they can welcome us there.
*Sob, sob* I'm not crying YOU'RE crying!
POLT
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