Opportunity Rover has challenged all odds over 15 years anniversary

NASA's Opportunity Rover defied all odds and celebrates its 15th birthday on Saturday – but it's unclear how long it will last in the midst of the off-season dust storm that took more than a quarter of March.

On July 7, 2003, NASA launched Opportunity to Mars, the second of two rovers launched that year to explore the red planet in search of signs of past life. The opportunity was originally scheduled for a 90-day mission, but still explores Mars and returns extraordinary images and information about Mars.

Since arriving on Mars in January 2004, the 384-pound rover has made crucial discoveries that shaped our understanding of Mars. More specifically, the evidence that at one point, part of Mars had water for a long period of time – which meant that the planet had the right conditions to support microbial life, a condition necessary to maintain life on Earth.

According to NASA, two craters have also been studied on Mars, Victoria and Endeavor.

Opportunity, which is powered by solar energy, has been hibernating for weeks after the giant dust storm swirls on Mars. According to NASA, despite the lack of sun due to the storm, Opportunity was built to survive the cold weather and the rover batteries remained warm enough to run. NASA stated that they were not expecting to hear Opportunity until the sky started clearing the rover.

"We are not out of the woods," said John Callas, Opportunity project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. l & # 39; AP. "This storm is threatening, and we do not know how long it will last, and we do not know what the environment will look like once it's gone."

This is not the first dust storm that Aptimity has undergone. In 2007, the rover was able to wait for a similar dust storm – even though it only lasted a few days.

But NASA said that Opportunity 's energy levels are much lower this time around. And although it is unlikely that the rover will be buried under dust, the storm could cover the optical instruments of its clock that could disconnect it and cause signal problems.

Before the punch of Opportunity, the rover was unusually "Keep in mind that we are talking about a robot that has been working on Mars for 15 years and that has not been designed only for 90 days, "says Jim Watzin, director of NASA. Mars exploration program, told the AP. "It's not better than that."