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Silent days, silent nights

Silent days, silent nights
Silent days, silent nights Opportunity has been hunkered down about halfway down Perseverance Valley since June 10, 2018, not far from where the rover took the image above. A planet-encircling dust event (PEDE) or global dust storm forced her to shut down and go into a kind of hibernation. The team has been reaching out and listening for the rover’s signal ever since, but so far – nothing. In mid-November, the much-anticipated windy season brought cause for renewed optimism. But As December came and went and 2018 faded to history, the rover still had not responded. “Hopes remain high and the team remains vigilant,” said MER Principal Investigator Steve Squyres. NASA / JPL-Caltech / Cornell / ASU / additional processing S. Atkinson