With so much interest in what NASA’s Curiosity rover has been up to recently — with the whole “maybe finding evidence of life” and whatnot — it’s easy to forget that it isn’t the only rover making tracks on the Red Planet. Opportunity, the much older rover that has been on Mars since early 2004, is still doing its thing, but an intense dust storm is making life difficult for the aging robot.

The storm that is currently blanketing Opportunity is absolutely massive in size, with NASA estimating that it covers a whopping 7 million square miles. Conducting research is pretty tough with dust and debris flying around, but being caught in the storm isn’t just a bummer from a scientific standpoint; Opportunity’s power comes from batteries linked to solar panels, and those solar panels don’t work well when the skies aren’t clear.

In an update on Sunday, June 10th, NASA offered some reassuring news, saying that Opportunity had managed to send a brief message home earlier in the day despite the increasing peril.

“Data from the transmission let engineers know the rover still has enough battery charge to communicate with ground controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory explained. “Science operations remain suspended.”

But Opportunity isn’t out of the woods yet. NASA describes the situation as “a dark, perpetual night” shrouding the rover’s current home in Perseverance Valley. It’s unclear when the storm will eventually subside, but even if the storm ultimately doomed Opportunity it would have already vastly outlived its original mission. The rover’s initial mission timeline was just 90 days, but it’s currently approaching its 15th full year of operation.

Still, there’s no reason to count Opportunity out just yet. The rover has already survived one other harsh dust storm in its past on Mars. That storm, which covered the majority of the planet in 2007, also hampered its ability to gather vital sunlight and the rover was forced to remain in a low-power standby state around the clock. Let’s hope the skies clear soon.</s>A massive dust storm on Mars has sidelined NASA's Opportunity rover, stalling the robot's science work as it waits out the still-growing tempest.

The Martian dust storm was first spotted from space by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA officials said.

"As soon as the orbiter team saw how close the storm was to Opportunity, they notified the rover's team to begin preparing contingency plans," NASA officials said in a statement. "In a matter of days, the storm had ballooned."

As of Friday, the storm covered more than 7 million square miles of Mars, according to NASA. That's an area larger than all of North America on Earth.

"Full dust storms like this one are not surprising, but are infrequent," NASA officials said in the statement. "They can crop up suddenly but last weeks, even months."

The area blanketed by the dust storm includes Perseverance Valley, Opportunity's current home on the vast Martian plains of Meridiani Planum.

Opportunity has been exploring Mars since 2004, but it runs on solar power. With the dust storm clogging up the sky, the amount of sunlight the rover can use to recharge has dropped. NASA compared the conditions to "an extremely smoggy day that blots out sunlight."

By Wednesday, Opportunity's power levels saw a major drop, forcing the rover to stop all science to conserve power. If the storm lasts too long, the main concern will be the Martian cold, a danger Opportunity has faced in the past, NASA officials said.

"There is a risk to the rover if the storm persists for too long and Opportunity gets too cold while waiting for the skies to clear," NASA wrote in the statement. Cold is thought to be what killed NASA's Spirit rover, Opportunity's twin, in 2010 after that robot got stuck in the Martian sand.

But Opportunity is a survivor. And it's seen dust storms bigger than the one it's experiencing now.

In 2007, a dust storm on Mars covered the entire planet and forced Opportunity to hunker down for two weeks in a sort of survival-mode of minimal operations. To save power, the rover went days without phoning home to its controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

It was during that 2007 storm that Opportunity's handlers worried about the rover's ability to power its vital survival heaters with the low power levels caused by that dust storm. But Opportunity survived.

In fact, Opportunity has been surviving for 15 years.

The rover (and its twin Spirit) launched separately to Mars in 2003 and landed in January 2004 for what was originally scheduled to be a 90-day mission. But like the dust storm now battering Opportunity, the rover's mission ballooned from 3 months to 15 years, 14 of them on the Martian surface.</s>NASA has been forced to temporarily pause operations of its Opportunity rover as it continues to be rocked by an intense dust storm on Mars.

The agency has described the dust storm as being larger than the entire continent of North America and so powerful that it's blocking out the sun.

That's bad news for the Opportunity rover, which uses solar power to charge its internal battery.

Now, NASA engineers are waiting to see if the Opportunity rover will be able to weather the storm.

Many have said conditions have worsened so much that it almost seems as if day has turned into night on the red planet.

The agency received transmission from the rover on Sunday morning, which it said was 'a positive sign despite the worsening dust storm.'

Still, it intends to commission more antenna coverage from NASA's DeepSpace Network, which supports the agency's deep space probes.

For the time being, NASA has temporarily shut down any scientific operations, which means turning off most instruments attached to the spacecraft.

Opportunity will work to recharge itself and achieve transmissions with engineers back on land communicating its state and showing the progress of the storm.

Data has shown that the rover still has enough battery charge to communicate with controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, the agency said.

The rover could soon dip into its battery reserves and, not long after, it may be unable to communicate with engineers.

It will be balancing low levels of battery charge and sub-freezing temperatures.

Specifically, the data on Sunday showed that the rover's temperature was at about minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heat is 'vitally important' to keeping the spacecraft alive, but also consumes more battery power.

The rover can perform activities or call upon its reserve heaters to warm itself up, but that also draws on battery power.

Opportunity is said to be generating the lowest amount of power its ever collected on Mars, a source close to the situation told The Verge.

So in other words, it's stuck in a pretty precarious situation.

'Sunday's transmission was especially good news considering the dust storm has intensified in the past several days,' NASA said.

'A dark, perpetual night has settled over the rover's location in Mars' Perseverance Valley.'

The dust storm's atmospheric opacity, or the 'veil of dust' that can blot out sunlight, is now a lot worse than a 2007 storm that Opportunity experienced on Mars.

NASA says the previous storm had an opacity level, or tau, above 5.5, while this new storm had an estimated tau of 10.8 as of Sunday morning.

Engineers will closely monitor the rover's power levels throughout the week, the agency says.

NASA first became aware of the storm on June 1 when its Mars Reconaissance Orbiter detected a weather system.

Once they realized it would soon approach Opportunity, NASA began preparing 'contingency plans.'

The storm formed above the rover beginning on June 3 and has gotten much worse since then.

'In a matter of days, the storm had ballooned,' NASA explained.

'It now spans more than 7 million square miles -- an area greater than North America -- and includes Opportunity's current location at Perseverance Valley.'

However, NASA has in no way lost hope for the Opportunity rover just yet.

A 'saving grace' of dust storms is that they can end up limiting the extreme temperature swings customary on Mars' surface, the agency said.

Additionally, Opportunity has already exceeded NASA's expectations in many ways.

'The rover has proved hardier than expected by lasting nearly 15 years, despite being designed for a 90-day mission,' the agency said.</s>A massive dust storm on Mars has forced NASA to temporarily suspend operations of its Opportunity rover.

NASA first caught wind of the dust storm when its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter detected traces of the emerging weather system on June 1. Within a few days, the storm exploded in size, and it now covers an area measuring 7 million square miles (18 million square kilometers), which is larger than North America. NASA’s Opportunity rover is currently within the affected region, prompting mission controllers to suspend normal operations as the rover waits out the storm.

The situation is actually quite perilous. The dust storm (not to be confused with a sandstorm) is raising atmospheric opacity, or “tau,” blocking out light from the Sun, so it’s much darker at the surface than usual. On June 7, the rover’s power levels dropped appreciably. Opportunity uses solar panels to recharge its batteries, so NASA had little choice but to put the rover into a kind of hibernation mode to preserve energy. NASA is having to manage a delicate balance, making sure the rover doesn’t run out of energy while maintaining its power-hungry survival heaters—a system that protects the rover’s batteries from freezing in the extreme cold.

“It’s not unlike running a car in the winter so that the cold doesn’t sap its battery charge,” NASA writes in a release. “There is a risk to the rover if the storm persists for too long and Opportunity gets too cold while waiting for the skies to clear.”

This isn’t the first time Opportunity has dealt with dust storm since it arrived on Mars in January 2004. In 2007, the rover rode out a similar storm that lasted for two weeks. Like now, the rover was put into a hibernation mode, and it managed to survive the ordeal. The same could not be said for Opportunity’s companion probe, Mars Spirit, which failed completely after a dust storm in 2008.

The current dust storm seems to be worse than the one in 2007 in terms of dimming. The 2007 storm produced a tau value of 5.5, while the current storm has already produced a tau of 10.8. The good news is that Opportunity seems to be okay so far. The probe sent a hello message to NASA engineers yesterday morning—an encouraging sign given the storm’s increasing intensity. NASA will carefully monitor Opportunity’s power levels as the storm continues.

The temperature in Perseverance Valley, the rover’s current location, is around -20 degrees F (-29 degrees C). Counterintuitively, dust storms may limit the extreme temperature swings experienced on Mars. The swirling dust absorbs heat, raising the temperature at the surface.

Dust storms are infrequent on Mars, but they do arise from time to time. These systems often emerge without warning and escalate quickly, lasting anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. During summer in the south, the Sun warms dust particles, causing them to rise up higher into the sky. This produces more wind, which kicks up even more dust, creating a feedback loop.

In case you’re wondering, NASA’s Curiosity rover is nowhere near Opportunity and is not currently threatened by the dust storm. The two probes are about 5,000 miles (8,200 km) apart and on practically opposite sides of the planet. It’s lonely on Mars, but as this storm menaces Opportunity, the Red Planet suddenly seems even lonelier.</s>Dust storms on the red planet crop up suddenly, but don't go away so fast.

A massive Mars dust storm, which has covered an area greater than all of North America, threatens to undo NASA’s work on the red planet, warned scientists.

Dust storms on the red planet are not unusual but remain infrequent. According to Space.com, the dust storm was first spotted earlier this week, and in a matter of days, has ballooned to cover an area of up to 7 million square miles. In the days to come, the dust storm may expand further, having already blanketed the Perseverance Valley, which is where NASA’s Opportunity rover is stationed.

As a result, NASA has had to suspend the duties of the rover, with scientists unsure of how long it would take for Opportunity to start working fully again. On Mars, dust storms can crop up suddenly, NASA said in a statement, but it could take weeks or even months for them to subside.

After NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted the dust storm gathering pace on June 7, its team notified the Opportunity rover team, helping the officials to quickly embark on a contingency plan for the rover.

NASA’s Opportunity has been exploring Mars since 2004, but it functions on solar power. Now that the area it is stationed in — the vast Martian plains of Meridiani Planum — is blanketed in this huge dust storm, the sunlight that Opportunity receives has diminished significantly. This led NASA to compare the situation on the red planet as similar to “an extremely smoggy day that blots out sunlight.”

Its biggest concern remains Opportunity getting too cold as the result of receiving little to no sunlight. If the dust storm lasts long, it could impair the rover thus killing it. This is what is believed to have killed NASA’s Spirit rover after it was stuck in Martian dust in 2010.

“There is a risk to the rover if the storm persists for too long and Opportunity gets too cold while waiting for the skies to clear,” NASA said.

Having said that, scientists hope that Opportunity can sustain the Martian dust storm because it has seen worst days. In 2007, Mars experienced a dust storm which covered the entire planet, forcing Opportunity to sort of couch down for two weeks. During the time, the rover stopped phoning in to NASA to save power, defying NASA scientists who had worried if the rover would be able to power its vital survival heaters with the low power levels caused by that dust storm.

Opportunity, which was designed for a 90-day mission, has survived on Mars for 15 years, and if it can somehow circumvent this massive dust storm as well, it would be a great compliment to its unwavering tenacity.</s>This global map of Mars shows a growing dust storm as of June 6. The map was produced by the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. (Photo : NASA | JPL-Caltech | MSSS)

NASA's Opportunity rover on Mars is getting slammed by a continuously growing dust storm that's bigger than the entire North America continent.

The rover has been in operations for almost 15 years, but it is currently being challenged as it rides out this massive storm on the Red Planet. Science operations are currently suspended until further notice, but a recent transmission sent offers a positive sign for NASA engineers.

The dust storm, which NASA describes in a press release as "a dark, perpetual night," has blanketed over Mars' Perseverance Valley where the rover is currently planted.

Scientists from the agency initially detected it on Friday, June 1, but the storm expanded rapidly within just a few days. It currently extends over 7 million square miles, which is more than the size of North America.

The Opportunity rover runs on solar power, with the rover drawing from the sun to charge its batteries and, consequently, function on Mars. The dust storm is now posing a big threat to its operations by blotting out the sunlight.

Judging by its atmospheric opacity level or tau of 10.8, this is the worst storm that the Opportunity rover ever had to weather in terms of visibility. A previous storm in 2007 had a lower tau that's just over 5.5, despite covering the entire planet of Mars, Space.com recalls. This storm forced the rover to survive on minimal operations for two weeks.

NASA engineers will be monitoring the rover's conditions closely, since Opportunity will need to balance its depleted battery charge with the sub-freezing temperatures. While heating itself is crucial to keep the rover running, this process also drains its battery.

The team behind Opportunity has asked for extra communications coverage from the agency's Deep Space Network.

Despite the increasingly intense dust storm spreading across the Red Planet, there is a silver lining for those monitoring Opportunity's journey. The rover was able to send a transmission signal to the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, indicating that it has ample battery charge left to communicate despite the dust blocking out the sunlight it needs to recharge.

This is a good sign considering the amplitude of the storm that the Opportunity rover is currently weathering. The latest transmission also revealed the rover's temperature conditions at minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

One of the positive effects of the dust storm is that it can keep the planet's temperature quite stable for the rover, reducing extreme temperature fluctuation in the Red Planet. The dust can block out sunlight, but it can also absorb heat and raise temperature around the rover.

Despite the power of the dust storm, it's worth pointing out that the Opportunity rover is a proven survivor, having long outlived its expiration date. While the rover is currently on its 15th year, the Opportunity was actually just designed for a 90-day mission.</s>NASA engineers received a transmission from Opportunity on Sunday morning — a positive sign despite the worsening dust storm. Data from the transmission let engineers know the rover still has enough battery charge to communicate with ground controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Science operations remain suspended.

Sunday’s transmission was especially good news considering the dust storm has intensified in the past several days. A dark, perpetual night has settled over the rover’s location in Mars’ Perseverance Valley. The storm’s atmospheric opacity — the veil of dust blowing around, which can blot out sunlight — is now much worse than a 2007 storm that Opportunity weathered. The previous storm had an opacity level, or tau, somewhere above 5.5; this new storm had an estimated tau of 10.8 as of Sunday morning.

Opportunity’s team has requested additional communications coverage from NASA’s Deep Space Network, a global system of antennas that talks to all the agency’s deep space probes.

This latest data transmission showed the rover’s temperature to be about minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 29 degrees Celsius). One saving grace of dust storms is that they can actually limit the extreme temperature swings experienced on the Martian surface. The same swirling dust that blocks out sunlight also absorbs heat, raising the ambient temperature surrounding Opportunity.

Engineers will monitor the rover’s power levels closely in the week to come. The rover needs to balance low levels of charge in its battery with sub-freezing temperatures. Its heaters are vitally important to keeping it alive, but also draw more power from the battery. Likewise, performing certain actions draws on battery power, but can actually expel energy and raise the rover’s temperature.

The rover has proved hardier than expected by lasting nearly 15 years, despite being designed for a 90-day mission.

Science operations for NASA’s Opportunity rover have been temporarily suspended as it waits out a growing dust storm on Mars.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter first detected the storm on Friday, June 1. As soon as the orbiter team saw how close the storm was to Opportunity, they notified the rover’s team to begin preparing contingency plans.

In a matter of days, the storm had ballooned. It now spans more than 7 million square miles (18 million square kilometers) — an area greater than North America — and includes Opportunity’s current location at Perseverance Valley. More importantly, the swirling dust has raised the atmospheric opacity, or “tau,” in the valley in the past few days. This is comparable to an extremely smoggy day that blots out sunlight. The rover uses solar panels to provide power and to recharge its batteries.

Opportunity’s power levels had dropped significantly by Wednesday, June 6, requiring the rover to shift to minimal operations.

This isn’t Opportunity’s first time hunkering down in bad weather: in 2007, a much larger storm covered the planet. That led to two weeks of minimal operations, including several days with no contact from the rover to save power. The project’s management prepared for the possibility that Opportunity couldn’t balance low levels of power with its energy-intensive survival heaters, which protect its batteries from Mars’ extreme cold. It’s not unlike running a car in the winter so that the cold doesn’t sap its battery charge. There is a risk to the rover if the storm persists for too long and Opportunity gets too cold while waiting for the skies to clear.

Ultimately, the storm subsided and Opportunity prevailed. The Martian cold is believed to have resulted in the loss of Spirit, Opportunity’s twin in the Mars Exploration Rover mission, back in 2010. Despite this, both rovers have vastly exceeded expectations: they were only designed to last 90 days each. Opportunity is in its 15th year; the team has operated the rover for more than 50 times longer than originally planned.

Full dust storms like this one are not surprising, but are infrequent. They can crop up suddenly but last weeks, even months. During southern summer, sunlight warms dust particles, lifting them higher into the atmosphere and creating more wind. That wind kicks up yet more dust, creating a feedback loop that NASA scientists still seek to understand.

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and two other NASA spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet –Odyssey and MAVEN — routinely support rovers on the ground.</s>It’s been exploring Mars since 2004, but it seems that NASA ’s Opportunity Rover may have run into a spot of bother.

The rover is currently battling a huge dust storm on the red planet, which could prove lethal.

Opportunity relies on solar panels to provide power and to recharge its batteries, which can be problematic in dusty conditions.

Thankfully, NASA has confirmed that it has received a transmission from Opportunity - a sign that the rover has enough battery charge to communicate.

The transmission showed that Opportunity is currently at a temperature of about -29°C.

A spokesperson for NASA said: “One saving grace of dust storms is that they can actually limit the extreme temperature swings experienced on the Martian surface.

“The same swirling dust that blocks out sunlight also absorbs heat, raising the ambient temperature surrounding Opportunity.”

Over the next week, NASA will monitor the rover’s power levels closely.

While its heaters are vitally important to keep the rover alive, they use up valuable battery power, meaning it takes a fine balancing act to survive in sub-freezing conditions.

The storm was first detected on June 1, and now spans more than 7 million square miles - an area greater than North America.

This isn’t the first time that Opportunity has had to contend with a dust storm.

In 2007, a huge storm on Mars led to two weeks of minimal operations, including several days with no contact from the rover.</s>The hardest working rover on Mars is fighting for its robotic life on the red planet.

NASA announced on Friday that the Opportunity rover is currently being hit by the worst dust storm it's ever experienced in the 15 years since it landed on Mars.

"A dark, perpetual night has settled over the rover's location in Mars' Perseverance Valley," NASA said in a statement.

Scientists are worried the rover won't survive this storm, but there's still hope.

On Sunday, Opportunity phoned home, sending a transmission to engineers back on Earth. This means the rover had enough power to send a message despite the fact that the sun was blotted out by dust, preventing a full charge to its solar panels.

The storm is actually 7 million square miles across, meaning that it's larger than North America, according to NASA.

Since the storm began bearing down on Opportunity, the rover has started conserving energy by ending science operations and only using minimal power to keep it warm during the tempest.

This storm is bad, but Opportunity is made of hardy stuff. The rover was only designed to last 90 days, yet here we are more than a decade later, a still-functioning Opportunity on Mars.

Scientists working with the rover and many others have become attached to the intrepid space robot. They're hoping for the best.

That said, it's a terrible storm.

"The storm's atmospheric opacity — the veil of dust blowing around, which can blot out sunlight — is now much worse than a 2007 storm that Opportunity weathered," NASA said.

"The previous storm had an opacity level, or tau, somewhere above 5.5; this new storm had an estimated tau of 10.8 as of Sunday morning."

The main concern NASA has with this kind of tempest is that the rover's batteries will get too cold and it won't be able to function once the dust storm ends. Opportunity is in low power mode in order to make sure it can keep warm until the storm ends.

For now, the engineers will just need to wait it out and see how the little robot comes through the storm.</s>NASA’s Opportunity rover’s science operations have been temporarily suspended as it waits out a growing dust storm on Mars, the US space agency said in a statement. First detected by NASA on June 1, the storm ballooned to more than 18 million square.km and included the Opportunity’s current location at Perseverance Valley in the Red Planet by June 8.

The swirling dust has raised the atmospheric opacity, or “tau”, – the veil of dust blowing around, which can blot out sunlight – in the valley in the past few days. As the rover uses solar panels to provide power and to recharge its batteries, the rover was required to shift to minimal operations. The storm’s atmospheric opacity is now much worse than a 2007 storm that Opportunity weathered. The previous storm had an opacity level, or tau, somewhere above 5.5; this new storm had an estimated tau of 10.8 as of morning on June 10.

Despite the worsening dust storm, Opportunity also sent a transmission to NASA engineers on the same day, the report said. Data from the transmission let engineers know the rover still has enough battery charge to communicate with ground controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. However, still science operations remain suspended, the report said. Opportunity’s team has also requested additional communications coverage from NASA’s Deep Space Network – a global system of antennas that talks to all the agency’s deep space probes.

The latest data transmission showed the rover’s temperature to be about minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 29 degrees Celsius). Engineers will monitor the rover’s power levels closely in the week to come. The rover needs to balance low levels of charge in its battery with sub-freezing temperatures. Its heaters are vitally important to keeping it alive, but also draw more power from the battery. Likewise, performing certain actions draws on battery power, but can actually expel energy and raise the rover’s temperature. The rover has proved hardier than expected by lasting nearly 15 years, despite being designed for a 90-day mission.

Full dust storms though one are not surprising, but are infrequent. They can crop up suddenly but last weeks, even months.

 During southern summer, sunlight warms dust particles, lifting them higher into the atmosphere and creating more wind. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and two other NASA spacecraft orbiting the Red Planet – Odyssey and MAVEN – routinely support rovers on the ground.

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NASA's Opportunity rover is temporarily shut down due to a dust storm.