Five stories from the red dust
told by Opportunity
Five stories from the red dust
Told by Opportunity
- Chapters
- 5
- Reading
- 10 min
- Ways to read
- 2
My first stop was a crater. My next stop was supposed to be nearby. Come along: the little rover built for a short visit had a much longer journey ahead.
Chapters
Each chapter is one true event. Start anywhere.
- 01The landing that bouncedOpportunity’s airbag-cushioned arrival inside Eagle Crater2 min
- 02The mystery in the Berry BowlComparing a cluster of Martian spherules with nearby rock in March 20042 min
- 03The dune that wouldn’t let goGetting Opportunity out of Purgatory Dune in 20052 min
- 04A marathon without a finish lineOpportunity passes 42.195 kilometres of cumulative driving on 24 March 20152 min
- 05When daylight disappearedOpportunity’s final contact during the June 2018 dust storm2 min
About this book
Opportunity tells its own story in an imagined voice. Those lines are retellings, not quotations. The events, dates and numbers come from the mission records listed here, and each chapter links its own sources as you read.
The machine illustration is AI-made. Photos are from the NASA Image and Video Library and are credited where they appear.
Meet OpportunitySources · 11
- The landing that bouncedscience.nasa.gov
- JPL · Four airbags, six lobes eachjpl.nasa.gov
- JPL · The original mission planjpl.nasa.gov
- The mystery in the Berry Bowljpl.nasa.gov
- The dune that wouldn’t let gojpl.nasa.gov
- JPL Education · Testing a way out on Earthjpl.nasa.gov
- A marathon without a finish linejpl.nasa.gov
- When daylight disappearedjpl.nasa.gov
- JPL · The storm as it unfoldedjpl.nasa.gov
- NASA · Last images taken versus last image transmittedscience.nasa.gov
- JPL · The verified October 2026 record handoffjpl.nasa.gov
Sources
- The landing that bouncedscience.nasa.gov
- JPL · Four airbags, six lobes eachjpl.nasa.gov
- JPL · The original mission planjpl.nasa.gov
- The mystery in the Berry Bowljpl.nasa.gov
- The dune that wouldn’t let gojpl.nasa.gov
- JPL Education · Testing a way out on Earthjpl.nasa.gov
- A marathon without a finish linejpl.nasa.gov
- When daylight disappearedjpl.nasa.gov
- JPL · The storm as it unfoldedjpl.nasa.gov
- NASA · Last images taken versus last image transmittedscience.nasa.gov
- JPL · The verified October 2026 record handoffjpl.nasa.gov
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