Mars rover Mars rover A Mars rover is a motor vehicle that propels itself across the surface of the planet Mars upon arrival. Rovers have several advantages over stationary landers: they examine more territory, and they can be directed to interesting features, they can place themselves in sunny positions to weather winter months, and they can advance the knowledge of how to perform very remote robotic vehicle control. There have been four successful robotically operated Mars rovers. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed the "Sojourner" rover, the "Opportunity" rover, "Spirit" rover, and, now the "Curiosity" rover. On January 24, 2016 NASA reported that
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