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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."

1 of 151 comments (clear)

  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.