After a final attempt to restore contact with the Opportunity Mars rover, NASA managers declared the spacecraft lost, bringing a 15-year mission to an end.
NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover landed on the red planet 15 years ago 24 January; engineers are still attempting contact in the wake of a global dust storm last year.
NASA has not heard from the Opportunity Mars rover since it fell silent 10 June as a global dust storm blanketed the red planet, but engineers are hopeful the long-lived robot will wake up soon as the storm abates.
NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover has captured a dust devil spinning across the barren floor of Endeavour Crater, an impact basin the robot has explored since 2011 in the mission’s long-lived second act.