Mars Opportunity Rover remains silent since the global dust storm

NASA scientists yet await to hear from the Mars Opportunity Rover, as it has been silent since the global dust storm enshrouded the red planet. The US space agency estimates that there is a possibility that due to the storm, a layer of dust must have been deposited on the rover’s solar panels, thus blocking the sunlight that could recharge its batteries.

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However, NASA stated that it was impossible for anyone to ascertain how much dust has been deposited on its panel. The agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is employing a combination of listening and commanding methods in case Opportunity is still operational.  A windy period on Mars – known to Opportunity’s team as “dust-clearing season” – occurs in the November-to-January time frame and has helped clean the rover’s panels in the past. The team remains hopeful that some dust clearing may result in hearing from the rover in this period.

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Opportunity has exceeded its life expectancy many times. Both Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, were designed to last only 90 days on the Martian surface, with the expectation that the planet’s extreme winters and dust storms could cut their mission short. The rover has lasted nearly 15 years. It last communicated on June 10 before being forced into hibernation by the growing dust storm.