Curiosity (rover) counted. Previous NASA Mars rovers became active only after the successful entry, descent and landing on the Martian surface. "Curiosity", on the other hand, was active when it touched down on the surface of Mars, employing the rover suspension system for the final set-down. "Curiosity" transformed from its stowed flight configuration to a landing configuration while the MSL spacecraft simultaneously lowered it beneath the spacecraft descent stage with a tether from the "sky crane" system to a soft landing—wheels down—on the surface of Mars. After the rover touched down it waited 2 seconds to confirm that it was on solid
Opportunity (rover) early June 2018, a large global-scale dust storm developed and within a few days the rover's solar panels were not generating enough power to maintain communications, with last contact on June 10, 2018. NASA stated they did not expect to resume communication until after the global dust storm subsided, but the rover kept silent even after the storm ended in early-October, suggesting either a catastrophic failure or a layer of dust covered its solar panels. The team remains hopeful that a windy period between November 2018 and January 2019 may clear the dust from its solar panels, as has happened