The massive Mars dust storm is waning. Now, will Opportunity wake?
The aging solar-powered rover has been silent for months
With Martian skies finally clearing after a massive dust storm, NASA engineers have their fingers crossed that the Opportunity rover will soon phone home.
Opportunity has been hunkered down in Mars’ Perseverance Valley since early June, caught in a storm that has grown to envelop the entire Red Planet. Since so little sunlight can reach the rover’s solar panels through the haze, Opportunity is riding out the storm in sleep mode (SN Online: 6/13/18). No one’s heard from the rover since June 10.