Free Astronomy Magazine March-April 2019

ASTRONAUTICS 25 ortunity retired MARCH-APRIL 2019 N ASA declared its Opportunity Mars rover dead on February 13th, 2019. Eight years before, NASA had declared the same conclusion for its twin rover Spirit. On May 19th, 2005, Spirit captured this stunning, color-corrected view as the Sun sank below the rim of Gusev crater on Mars. Because Mars is farther from the Sun than the Earth is, the Sun appears only about two-thirds the size that it appears in a sunset seen from the Earth. The ter- rain in the foreground is the rock outcrop Jibsheet, a feature that Spirit investigated for several weeks[NASA/JPL-Caltech/Texas A&M/Cornell]