collectively held their breath as a global dust storm completely
enveloped Mars. They did so not because our view of the Red Planet's
surface was obscured, but instead because a go-kart-sized rover named
Opportunity, which had been roaming the Red Planet for nearly 15
years, fell silent as the storm intensified. After eight months of
fruitless attempts to resurrect "Oppy," which was only slated for a
mission lasting 90 days, on February 13, NASA scientists finally
declared: "Mission complete."
However, although Opportunity is now forever resting in peace, just
before the massive martian storm struck, the tenacious rover managed
to capture one final panorama of the Red Planet — and it's glorious.
The sprawling, 360-degree panorama above — which is composed of 354
individual shots captured by Opportunity's Panoramic Camera (Pancam)
between May 13 and June 10, 2018 — shows a whole host of intriguing
features near a site fittingly named Perseverance Valley. Located on
the western rim of Endeavour Crater, this valley spans roughly 600
feet (182 meters) and contains many shallow channels sloping down from
the crater's rim to its floor. You can explore a higher resolution
(and zoomable) versionof the giant panorama on NASA's website.
"This final panorama embodies what made our Opportunity rover such a
remarkable mission of exploration and discovery," said John Callas,
Opportunity's project manager, in a press release.
"To the right of center you can see the rim of Endeavour Crater rising
in the distance," he said. "Just to the left of that, rover tracks
begin their descent from over the horizon and weave their way down to
geological features that our scientists wanted to examine up close.
And to the far right and left are the bottom of Perseverance Valley
and the floor of Endeavour crater, pristine and unexplored, waiting
for visits from future explorers."
For the vast majority of the panorama, Opportunity utilized three
filters to capture full-color images. But in the bottom left, you may
notice a few frames are still in black and white. This is the result
of the massive storm that ultimately took Opportunity out of
commission last year. As the storm swept in, the solar panels that
power Opportunity were covered in dust. This meant that the rover did
not have enough juice remaining to capture its final few images using
the Pancam's green and violet filters.
Despite the fact that Opportunity is clearly not a living creature,
its official demise last month sent ripples of sadness echoing through
the astronomical community. However, according to Tanya Harrison,
Director of Research for the "NewSpace" Initiative at ASU and Science
Team Collaborator on the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity, the
rover's tireless efforts to explore the Red Planet will not soon be
forgotten.
"If I had the chance to say one last goodbye to Oppy, I would thank
her for her tireless service above and beyond all possible
expectations. There's probably no more fitting way for her to have
gone than in the strongest dust storm we've ever seen on Mars — for
her, I would expect nothing less. Now she can rest, beneath a thin
layer of dust, knowing she did humanity proud."
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Good Clear Skies
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Astrocomet
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Colin James Watling
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Various Voluntary work-Litter Picking for Parish Council (Daytime) and
also a friend of Kessingland Beach (Watchman)
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Profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/astrocomera
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Real Astronomer and head of the Comet section for LYRA (Lowestoft and
Great Yarmouth Regional Astronomers) also head of K.A.G (Kessingland
Astronomy Group) and Navigator (Astrogator) of the Stars (Fieldwork)
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Lyra Main Website: http://www.lyra-astro.co.uk/
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