NASA ’s chance ended its operation on June 10 , 2018 , but researchers are still go through the data . The indefatigable rover ’s mission came to a close due to an incredible world-wide dust storm that enveloped the whole of Mars . Without sunlight , the rover ’s battery quickly depleted and NASA was unable to re - institute contact with it .
Prior to this , Opportunity snapped photos over 29 years to construct a360 - stage panoramafrom the Endeavour crater . The location is often called Opportunity ’s second landing website , and the rover reached it in 2011 , seven years after it first land on the Red Planet .
The rover take 354 pictures from May 13 through June 10 , in three different filter . In the left over corner of the panorama , there is still an orbit in black and white . This is because it had no time to photograph the same area using the green and purplish filters , so we are only left with the near - infrared . It is poignant that Opportunity ’s last panorama was cut back short .
" This final diorama body forth what made our Opportunity rover such a remarkable deputation of geographic expedition and discovery , " chance project handler John Callas , from NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) , said in astatement . " To the right of inwardness you’re able to see the brim of Endeavor Crater rising in the distance . Just to the left of that , rover tracks lead off their descent from over the horizon and tissue their way down to geologic features that our scientist wanted to try up nigh . And to the far right wing and left are the bottom of Perseverance Valley and the floor of Endeavour volcanic crater , pristine and undiscovered , waiting for visits from future explorers . "
The heading available on NASA ’s JPL website also includes the very last picture from Opportunity . There are two black - and - whitethumbnail imagesof the sky with the feeble Sun visible in them . These were used to set how opaque the sky was getting on its last daylight because of the detritus storm . The last piece of data the rover ever channelize is a " noisy " , incomplete full - underframe image of a darkened sky .
After endeavor to get in signature for many month , NASA terminate the missionary work lastFebruary 13 . The rover ’s original foreign mission was theorize to last for only 90 days . In the end , it beat back around Mars for 14 years and 293 days , 55 time longer than its contrive lifetime . Opportunity was also the first rover to completea marathon in blank space , and by the end of the military mission , it had completed 45.16 kilometers ( 28.06 Roman mile ) on the surface of Mars .
