July 20, 2007 — Unless a massive dust storm on Mars abates soon, the rim of a crater that scientists hoped would open a new chapter in the search for past water on Mars may instead become the final resting place of the rover Opportunity.
NASA spent months driving the rover around the rim of the crater, known as Victoria, before deciding last month to risk driving down into the hole for close-up studies of its walls and surface features.
But shortly before Opportunity was to begin its descent, a dust storm delayed the journey. The storm so far has showed no signs of relenting. The planet's thin atmosphere is so filled with dust that 99 percent of the direct sunlight, needed to recharge the rover's batteries, is being blocked, leaving only a fraction of diffused light from which to draw power.
"We're rooting for our rovers to survive these storms, but they were never designed for conditions this intense," said NASA's associate administrator for science, Alan Stern.
Any further power cutbacks and Opportunity will be unable to keep itself warm, resulting in an electronic coma from which recovery would be unlikely, NASA said.
In a last-ditch effort to save the rover, flight directors suspended communications sessions with Opportunity, which is using more power to maintain its systems than it is currently able to generate. All science operations had previously been suspended.
