Opportunity , также известный как MER-B ( Mars Exploration Rover-B ) или MER-1 , представляет собой роботизированный вездеход , который работал на Марсе с 2004 по 2018 год. [2] Opportunity работал на Марсе в течение 5111 солов (14 лет, 138). дней на Земле). Запущенный 7 июля 2003 года в рамках программы исследования Марса НАСА , он приземлился на Плануме Меридиани 25 января 2004 года, через три недели после того, как его близнецSpirit ( MER-A) приземлился на другой стороне Марса. планета. [8] При запланированной продолжительности активности в 90 солов (чуть меньше 92,5 земных дней) «Спирит» функционировал до тех пор, пока не застрял в 2009 году и не прекратил связь в 2010 году, в то время как «Оппортьюнити» смог оставаться в рабочем состоянии в течение 5111 солов после приземления, сохраняя свою энергосистемы и ключевые системы за счет постоянной подзарядки батарей с использованием солнечной энергии и перехода в спящий режим во время таких событий, как пыльные бури, для экономии энергии. Эта тщательная операция позволила Opportunity проработать в 57 раз больше расчетного срока службы, превысив первоначальный план на 14 лет 47 дней (по земному времени). К 10 июня 2018 года, когда он в последний раз связывался с НАСА, [9] [10] марсоход преодолел расстояние в 45,16 километров (28,06 миль). [7]
Основные моменты миссии включали первоначальную миссию продолжительностью 90 сол, поиск метеоритов , таких как Heat Shield Rock (метеорит Meridiani Planum), и более двух лет исследования и изучения кратера Виктория . Ровер пережил умеренные пыльные бури и в 2011 году достиг кратера Индевор , который считается «вторым местом посадки». [11] Миссия «Оппортьюнити» считается одним из самых успешных проектов НАСА. [12]
Due to the planetary 2018 dust storm on Mars, Opportunity ceased communications on June 10 and entered hibernation on June 12, 2018. It was hoped it would reboot once the weather cleared,[13] but it did not, suggesting either a catastrophic failure or that a layer of dust had covered its solar panels. NASA hoped to re-establish contact with the rover, citing a recurring windy period which was forecast for November 2018 to January 2019, that could potentially clean off its solar panels.[14] On February 13, 2019, NASA officials declared that the Opportunity mission was complete, after the spacecraft had failed to respond to over 1,000 signals sent since August 2018.[15]
The scientific objectives of the Mars Exploration Rover mission were to:[16]
Opportunity and Spirit rovers were part of the Mars Exploration Rover program in the long-term Mars Exploration Program. The Mars Exploration Program's four principal goals were to determine if the potential for life exists on Mars (in particular, whether recoverable water may be found on Mars), to characterize the Mars climate and its geology, and then to prepare for a potential human mission to Mars. The Mars Exploration Rovers were to travel across the Martian surface and perform periodic geologic analyses to determine if water ever existed on Mars as well as the types of minerals available, as well as to corroborate data taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).[17] Both rovers were designed with an expected 90 sols (92 Earth days) lifetime, but each lasted much longer than expected. Spirit's mission lasted 20 times longer than its expected lifetime, and its mission was declared ended on May 25, 2011, after it got stuck in soft sand and expended its power reserves trying to free itself. Opportunity lasted 55 times longer than its 90 sol planned lifetime, operating for 5498 days from landing to mission end. An archive of weekly updates on the rover's status can be found at the Opportunity Update Archive.[18]
Spirit and Opportunity were launched a month apart, on June 10 and July 8, 2003, and both reached the Martian surface by January 2004. Opportunity's launch was managed by NASA's Launch Services Program. This was the first launch of the Delta II Heavy. The launch period went from June 25 to July 15, 2003. The first launch attempt occurred on June 28, 2003, but the spacecraft launched nine days later on July 7, 2003, due to delays for range safety and winds, then later to replace items on the rocket (insulation and a battery). Each day had two instantaneous launch opportunities. On the day of launch, the launch was delayed to the second opportunity (11:18 p.m. EDT) in order to fix a valve.[19]
On January 25, 2004 (GMT) (January 24, 2004, PST),[20] the airbag-protected landing craft settled onto the surface of Mars in the Eagle crater.
From its initial landing into an impact crater amidst an otherwise generally flat plain, Opportunity successfully investigated regolith and rock samples and took panoramic photos of its landing site. Its sampling allowed NASA scientists to make hypotheses concerning the presence of hematite and past presence of water on the surface of Mars.[21] Following this, it was directed to travel across the surface of Mars to investigate another crater site, Endurance crater, which it explored from June to December 2004.[22] Subsequently, Opportunity examined the impact site of its own heat shield and discovered an intact meteorite, now known as Heat Shield Rock, on the surface of Mars.[23]
Opportunity was directed to proceed in a southerly direction to Erebus crater, a large, shallow, partially buried crater and a stopover on the way south towards Victoria crater, between October 2005 and March 2006. It experienced some mechanical problems with its robotic arm.
In late September 2006, Opportunity reached Victoria crater and explored along the rim in a clockwise direction. In June 2007 it returned to Duck Bay, its original arrival point at Victoria crater; in September 2007 it entered the crater to begin a detailed study. In August 2008, Opportunity left Victoria crater for Endeavour crater, which it reached on August 9, 2011.[24]
At the rim of the Endeavour crater, the rover moved around a geographic feature named Cape York. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter had detected phyllosilicates there, and the rover analyzed the rocks with its instruments to check this sighting on the ground. This structure was analyzed in depth until summer 2013. In May 2013 the rover was heading south to a hill named Solander Point.[citation needed]
Opportunity's total odometry by June 10, 2018 (sol 5111), was 45.16 km (28.06 mi), while the dust factor was 10.8.[25] Since January 2013, the solar array dust factor (one of the determinants of solar power production) varied from a relatively dusty 0.467 on December 5, 2013 (sol 3507), to a relatively clean 0.964 on May 13, 2014 (sol 3662).[26]
In December 2014, NASA reported that Opportunity was suffering from "amnesia" events in which the rover failed to write data, e.g. telemetry information, to non-volatile memory. The hardware failure was believed to be due to an age-related fault in one of the rover's seven memory banks. As a result, NASA had aimed to force the rover's software to ignore the failed memory bank;[27] amnesia events continued to occur, however, which eventually resulted in vehicle resets.[clarification needed] In light of this, on Sol 4027 (May 23, 2015), the rover was configured to operate in RAM-only mode, completely avoiding the use of non-volatile memory for storage.[28]
In early June 2018, a large planetary-scale dust storm developed, and within a few days the rover's solar panels were not generating enough power to maintain communications, with the last contact on June 10, 2018.[5] NASA stated that they did not expect to resume communication until after the storm subsided,[29] but the rover kept silent even after the storm ended in early October,[29] suggesting either a catastrophic failure or a layer of dust covering its solar panels.[30] The team remained hopeful that a windy period between November 2018 and January 2019 might clear the dust from its solar panels, as had happened before.[30] Wind was detected nearby on January 8, and on January 26 the mission team announced a plan to begin broadcasting a new set of commands to the rover in case its radio receiver failed.[31]
On February 12, 2019,[32] past and present members of the mission team gathered in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)'s Space Flight Operations Facility to watch final commands being transmitted to Opportunity via the 70-meter (230-foot) dish of the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California. Following 25 minutes of transmission of the final 4 sets of commands, communication attempts with the rover were handed off to Canberra, Australia.[citation needed]
С момента потери сигнала в июне 2018 года до конца января 2019 года было передано более 835 команд восстановления, при этом до 13 февраля 2019 года было передано более 1000 команд восстановления. [15] [33] [34] Представители НАСА провели 13 февраля пресс-конференцию, чтобы объявить об официальном завершении миссии. Заместитель администратора НАСА Томас Зурбухен заявил: «Именно поэтому я стою здесь с глубоким чувством признательности и благодарности и объявляю миссию «Оппортьюнити» завершенной». [35] Когда НАСА прекратило попытки связаться с марсоходом, последними отправленными данными была песня « I'll Be Seeing You » в исполнении Билли Холидей . [36] Активы, которые были необходимы для поддержки Opportunity, были переданы для поддержки марсоходов Curiosity и Perseverance . [35]
Последнее сообщение от марсохода пришло 10 июня 2018 года (5111 сол) из Долины Персеверанс [15] и указывало на выработку энергии солнечной батареей в размере 22 ватт-часов на солнце и самую высокую непрозрачность атмосферы (тау), когда-либо измеренную на планете. Марс: 10,8. [37]
Opportunity (и его близнец Spirit ) — это шестиколесные роботы, работающие на солнечной энергии , высотой 1,5 метра (4,9 фута), шириной 2,3 метра (7,5 фута), длиной 1,6 метра (5,2 фута) и весом 180 килограммов (400 фунтов). Шесть колес на качающейся тележке обеспечивали мобильность по пересеченной местности. Каждое колесо имело свой мотор. Машина управлялась спереди и сзади и была рассчитана на безопасную работу при наклоне до 30 градусов. Максимальная скорость составляла 5 сантиметров в секунду (2,0 дюйма в секунду); [38] 0,18 километра в час (0,11 мили в час), хотя средняя скорость составляла около 1 сантиметра в секунду (0,39 дюйма в секунду). И на Spirit , и на Opportunity есть куски металла упавшего Всемирного торгового центра , которые «превратились в щиты для защиты кабелей на буровых механизмах». [39] [40]
Солнечные батареи вырабатывали около 140 Вт в течение четырнадцати часов за сол, а перезаряжаемые литий-ионные батареи сохраняли энергию для использования в ночное время. Бортовой компьютер Opportunity использует процессор RAD6000 с тактовой частотой 20 МГц, 128 МБ DRAM и 3 МБ EEPROM. [41] Рабочая температура марсохода колеблется от -40 до +40 °C (от -40 до 104 °F), а радиоизотопные обогреватели обеспечивают базовый уровень нагрева, при необходимости которому помогают электрические обогреватели. [42]
Связь зависела от всенаправленной антенны с низким коэффициентом усиления, передающей данные с низкой скоростью, и управляемой антенны с высоким коэффициентом усиления, которые находились в прямом контакте с Землей. Антенна с низким коэффициентом усиления также использовалась для передачи данных на космический корабль, вращающийся вокруг Марса. [43]
В число научных инструментов входили: [44]
В руке марсохода находились следующие инструменты: [45]
На протяжении всей миссии « Оппортьюнити» «управляли» несколькими операторами, в том числе робототехником Лаборатории реактивного движения Ванди Верма . [46]
The rover uses a combination of solar cells and a rechargeable chemical battery.[47] This class of rover has two rechargeable lithium batteries, each composed of 8 cells with 8 amp-hour capacity.[48] At the start of the mission the solar panels could provide up to around 900 watt-hours (Wh) per day to recharge the battery and power system in one Sol, but this could vary due to a variety of factors.[47] In Eagle crater the cells were producing about 840 Wh per day, but by Sol 319 in December 2004, it had dropped to 730 Wh per day.[49]
Like Earth, Mars has seasonal variations that reduce sunlight during winter. However, since the Martian year is longer than that of the Earth, the seasons fully rotate roughly once every 2 Earth years.[50] By 2016, MER-B had endured seven Martian winters, during which times power levels drop which can mean the rover avoids doing activities that use a lot of power.[50] During its first winter power levels dropped to under 300 Wh per day for two months, but some later winters were not as bad.[50]
Another factor that can reduce received power is dust in the atmosphere, especially dust storms.[51] Dust storms have occurred quite frequently when Mars is closest to the Sun.[51] Global dust storms in 2007 reduced power levels for Opportunity and Spirit so much they could only run for a few minutes each day.[51] Due to the 2018 dust storms on Mars, Opportunity entered hibernation mode on June 12,[52][53] but it remained silent after the storm subsided in early October.[29]
Opportunity has provided substantial evidence in support of the mission's primary scientific goals: to search for and characterize a wide range of rocks and regolith that hold clues to past water activity on Mars. In addition to investigating the water, Opportunity has also obtained astronomical observations and atmospheric data.[citation needed]
Following its launch, Opportunity was anthropomorphized by its operators: the rover was called a "she," drawing from nautical tradition, and given an affectionate nickname, "Oppy." One scientist, who worked with Opportunity for over a decade, attributed this to the rover's unexpectedly long lifespan, which he called a story of "an underdog beating the odds," and its "familiar, almost biologically inspired shape."[54] The media attention surrounding Opportunity's shutdown spread this usage to the general public.
With word on February 12, 2019, that NASA was likely to conclude the Opportunity mission, many media outlets and commentators issued statements praising the mission's success and stating their goodbyes to the rover. One journalist, Jacob Margolis, tweeted his translation of the last data transmission sent by Opportunity on June 10, 2018, as "My battery is low and it's getting dark." The phrase struck a chord with the public, inspiring a period of mourning, artwork, and tributes to the memory of Opportunity.[55]
When the quote became widely reported, some news reports mistakenly asserted that the rover sent that exact message in English, resulting in NASA being inundated with additional questions. Margolis wrote a clarifying article on February 16, making it clear he had taken statements from NASA officials who were interpreting the data sent by Opportunity, both on the state of its low power and Mars's high atmospheric opacity, and rephrased them in a poetic manner, never to imply the rover had sent the specific words.[55][56]
Honoring Opportunity's great contribution to the exploration of Mars, an asteroid was named Opportunity: 39382 Opportunity.[57] The name was proposed by Ingrid van Houten-Groeneveld who, along with Cornelis Johannes van Houten and Tom Gehrels, discovered the asteroid on September 24, 1960. Opportunity's lander is Challenger Memorial Station.[58]
On March 24, 2015, NASA celebrated Opportunity having traveled the distance of a marathon race, 42.195 km (26.219 mi). The rover covered the distance in 11 years and 2 months. The JPL technicians celebrated the occasion by running a race.[59][60]
Documentary film, Good Night Oppy, about the Opportunity, Spirit, and their long missions, was directed by Ryan White, and included support from JPL and Industrial Light & Magic. It was released in 2022.[61]
The rover could take pictures with its different cameras, but only the PanCam camera had the ability to photograph a scene with different color filters. The panorama views are usually built up from PanCam images. By February 3, 2018, Opportunity had returned 224,642 pictures.[62][63]
A selection of panoramas from the mission:
Now NASA scientists are trying a last-ditch attempt to contact the rover based on three unlikely but possible scenarios: that the rover's primary X-band radio has failed, that both the primary and secondary X-band radios have failed, or that the rover's internal clock has become offset. The team is commanding the rover to switch to its backup X-band radio and to reset its clock to counteract these possibilities.