---
title: "NASA is Finally Ready to Say Goodbye to its Opportunity Rover"
description: "After 15 years of crawling around on the surface of Mars, NASA's JPL team sent the last ever commands to its Opportunity rover today."
date: "2019-02-13"
modified: "2019-02-13"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/nasa-goodbye-opportunity-mars-rover"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "mars"
  - "NASA"
  - "Opportunity"
  - "opportunity rover"
---

# NASA is Finally Ready to Say Goodbye to its Opportunity Rover

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/deadrover.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA/Tag Hartman-Simkins\</em\>*

## Last Opportunity

After 15 years of crawling across the surface of Mars, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) team sent the [last-ever commands](<https://twitter.com/tanyaofmars/status/1095580232797450241>) to its Opportunity rover today. The rover landed on Mars [in 2004](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOv8-yM6pN0>) for what started as a 90-day mission. It has since become the longest-running rover NASA has ever sent to Mars.

A vicious dust storm forced Opportunity into radio silence [back in June](<https://futurism.com/opportunity-rover-dust-storm>) — the fiercest Martian storm NASA had ever observed. Dust covering the rover's solar panels caused it to drain its battery reserves. Now, a bitterly cold Martian winter means that Opportunity had virtually no chance of waking itself up.

Its last message home, [according to](<https://twitter.com/JacobMargolis/status/1095436913173880832>) science reporter Jacob Margolis: "My battery is low and it’s getting dark."

## A Successful Career

Opportunity allowed us to uncover a number of Mars' secrets.

In 2004, the rover's high-resolution images revealed the [presence of hematite](<https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/3912/a-geologists-treasure-trove/>) — a mineral that typically forms in water. In 2012, it found a [patch of nearly pure silica](<https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/4036/rovers-wheel-churns-up-bright-martian-soil/>) that might have originated from a hot-spring-like environment. Clay minerals and veins of gypsum gave scientists even more evidence for the historical presence of water on Mars.

## Demise on Mars

NASA will hold a [press conference](<https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8411/nasa-to-share-results-of-effort-to-recover-mars-rover/>) this afternoon to reveal the fate of its much-beloved rover.

May it rest in peace.

**READ MORE:** [NASA is saying goodbye to its Opportunity rover on Mars after eight months of radio silence](<https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/13/18223144/nasa-mars-opportunity-rover-radio-silence-dust-storm-end-of-mission>) \[*The Verge*\]

***More on Opportunity: [NASA's Opportunity Rover Feared Dead: “An Honorable Death"](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/opportunity-rover-nasa-feared-dead>)***

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)