Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Mars Rover Opportunity Turns 8

Posted by Soulskill on from the its-doing-science-and-its-still-alive dept.

New submitter el borak writes "Never mind all the talk about the revival of the American auto industry. What may be the greatest car the U.S. has ever built is currently a tidy 78 million miles (125m km) away from this world — resting on the edge of Endeavour crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars. It was on January 25, 2004 that the rover Opportunity bounced down on Mars for a mission designed to last a minimum of three months and a maximum of just a year or two."

5 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. Great engineering! by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Can you remember the last piece of technology hardware you had which outlived its warranty? For me, most of that was stuff made in the 80's.

    Considerable accomplishment, designing, accumulating all the bits, assembling it, putting it in a rocket, flying it to Mars, landing it and having it muck about in a place without AAA Roadside Service. Well done.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Great engineering! by twotacocombo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Can you remember the last piece of technology hardware you had which outlived its warranty?.

      Pretty much everything I own, seeing as how most warranty terms are a year at best. No company in its right mind would design a product that would NOT make it past its warranty expiration.

  2. Re:It's not a car. by taiwanjohn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Except for freight cars, of course. "Car" is just a short version of "carriage."

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve your problem, you're not using enough of it. --AC
  3. Article misses the point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The impressive aspect is not that it has operated for 8 years, or that it is "beyond its warranty" (which is a misnomer - there was no warranty). What is impressive is that it has operated in a harsh environment for 8 years WITH ZERO MAINTENANCE! None. No one has touched the device in over 8 years now. And it has continued to operate, by radio, despite dust, vibration, heat, cold and radiation beyond what most Earth-bound devices ever experience.

    Sure, my car has well over 100K miles on it and is over 12 years old. But it is only operating because I am performing routine maintenance on the car. If I had not maintained the car, it would have stopped working ages ago. The impressive aspect of the Mars rover is that it has survived without anyone needs to tighten a nut, change oil, replace a battery or wheel or any of the routine operations that we have to use for our normal machines to keep them operational.

  4. Re:Yea ok by PickyH3D · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A break-in period that consisted of being shipped slowly on a ship compared to a violent launch on the top of a rocket, as well as the re-entry into the atmosphere of a largely mysterious planet, and finally the potentially violent landing.

    Then, once in use and with the odometer actually ticking up, the Mercedes gets an oil change every few thousand miles, or every few months; it's also refueled probably every other week, at least. And it's probably not in a hostile environment the entirety of its driven life, at least without serious repair assistance.

    So, yes, we really should be proud of the Opportunity for lasting for eight years while 78 million miles from a repair shop.