Spectacular images captured by Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity, from selfies to breathtaking Martian mountain landscapes.
NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover has been declared dead, eight months after it last made contact with Earth. The solar-powered golf-buggy-sized robotic vehicle fell silent in June 2018 after an enormous dust storm plunged a quarter of the planet into darkness.
Opportunity and its twin rover named Spirit landed on the red planet in January 2004 for what was planned to be a 90-day mission. Spirit was declared dead in 2011, but Opportunity spent nearly 15 years exploring Mars, covering more than 28 miles.
In August 2012, Opportunity was joined by another rover, named Curiosity. Newsweek publishes some of the spectacular images captured by Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity, from selfies to breathtaking Martian mountain landscapes.
Shortly after landing in the Eagle (Meridiani Planum) crater on January 25,2004, Opportunity set off to explore the planet, taking one last look back at its lander, as seen in the photo below.
Opportunity looks back at its tracks and its lander in the Eagle (Meridiani Planum) crater. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell
On the tenth anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Opportunity performed a memorial event on Mars. The rover photographed an American flag printed on one of its components, which was made from aluminum recovered from the site of the Twin Towers shortly after their destruction on September 11,2001.
Opportunity pays tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks. NASA/JPL-Caltech
A Martian dust devil twists through the valley below, in this image captured by Opportunity from its perch high on Knudsen Ridge on March 31,2016. Just like the ones seen in desert landscapes on Earth, Martian dust devils are created when warm air rises from the ground, forming a column that starts spinning and picking up any loose dust.
A dust devil dances across the Martian surface, on March 31,2016. NASA/JPL-Caltech
As the sun rose over Mars on February 15,2018, Opportunity recorded the dawning of its 4,999th Martian day. Not bad for what was originally planned to be a 90-day mission. When this image was captured, the rover had covered round 28 miles since landing on Mars.
