美國太空總署發出公布，指去年6月失去聯絡的火星探測車機遇號，正式結束歷時15年之探索任務。 

機遇號於去年5月在火星遇上強烈沙塵暴，太陽能板遭沙塵遮蓋而無法接觸陽光，進入休眠狀態後與太空總署失去聯絡。美國其後曾數百次試圖聯絡機遇號，但一直未有回應，故宣布機遇號正式結束任務。 

機遇號於2004年和另一輛探測車勇氣號登陸火星，原先設計只是運作3個月，但機遇號卻一直運作至去年6月，而另一台探測車勇氣號已於2010年失效。

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It’s so hard to say goodbye! 👋 Designed to last just 90 Martian days and travel 1,100 yards, our Mars Opportunity rover explored the surface of the Red Planet and broke records during its 15-year mission. It vastly surpassed all expectations in its endurance, scientific value and longevity. In addition to exceeding its life expectancy by 60 times, the rover traveled more than 28 miles by the time it reached its most appropriate final resting spot on Mars – Perseverance Valley. Today, we bid farewell to the rover that stopped communicating with Earth when a severe Mars-wide dust storm blanketed its location in June 2018. In this image from 2010, Opportunity used its navigation camera for this northward view of tracks the rover left on a drive from one energy-favorable position on a sand ripple to another. The tracks that Opportunity left on the Martian soil will pave the way for future robotic and human exploration of the Red Planet. Credit: NASA/@nasajpl #nasa #space #mars #redplanet #thanksoppy #opportunityrover #planets #solarsystem

NASA（@nasa）分享的貼文 於 PST 2019 年 2月 月 13 日 下午 2:43 張貼

（圖片來源：網絡）