Staying Alive On Mars
On January 24, 2013, NASA's Opportunity rover will begin its tenth year of exploration on the surface of Mars. Aiding the rover's survival in this alien outback are what scientists call a series of cleaning events, favorable gusts of wind that blow layers of martian dust off Opportunity's solar panel arrays. Each event restores the rover's health by boosting its energy supply, which is fueled by light harvested from the sun. Dust accumulation results from exposure to local, regional or planet-wide dust storms that occur naturally on Mars. Such storms can last hours or days and happen year round. The time-lapse video of images captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows dust storm activity in the planet's southern hemisphere from March 19 to April 14, 2009.
Fortuitous winds keep Opportunity rolling on the Red Planet.
Dust clouds appear brown in color.
A dust-free Opportunity is seen in this 2004 self-portrait taken almost one year after landing on Mars.
Covered in dust, Opportunity nearly blends into the surface by 2011.
Opportunity sets its sights on the horizon.
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Cover image courtesy of NASA/JPL
Video courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
2004 rover image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell
2011 rover image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU
Mars image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU
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Writer
- Kayvon Sharghi (USRA)
Release date
This page was originally published on Thursday, January 24, 2013.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:52 PM EDT.