Spaceflight Insider

News Archive / Tagged: Jim Rice

  • Inside Opportunity: Oppy still silent

    James RiceNovember 1st, 2018

    Dr. Jim Rice has provided this latest update from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Has the rover been silenced forever?

  • Inside Opportunity: As dust storm continues to rage Oppy sleeps

    James RiceJuly 28th, 2018

    Our Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover, situated at the Red Planet's Perseverance Valley located on the western inner rim of Endeavour Crater, continues to remain silent due to the ongoing global dust storm. The storm has placed 'Oppy' into a mode designed to protect her in instances just like the one the golf cart-sized rover is currently enduring.

  • Inside Opportunity: Red (Planet), White and Blue

    James RiceJuly 4th, 2016

    The United States leads the way in terms of exploring the planet Mars, and Mars Exploration Rover team member Jim Rice shares his personal experiences as the nation marks its 240th anniversary.

  • Inside Opportunity: Dust devils, high-altitude clouds, and sulfur-rich soils

    James RiceJune 2nd, 2016

    Since my last update, Opportunity has traveled 100 meters westward up a slope in Marathon Valley to continue our search for the elusive phyllosilicates (clay minerals) that were detected from orbit by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometers for Mars (CRISM) instrument aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

  • Inside Opportunity: Rover discovers its own ‘Easter eggs’ at Knudsen Ridge

    James RiceMarch 28th, 2016

    PASADENA, Calif. — Since Opportunity celebrated her 12th anniversary on Mars back on the night of Jan. 24, our tenacious rover and science team have been occupied exploring the environs of Knudsen Ridge. This geological formation comprises the southern wall of Marathon Valley, which is located along the western rim of Endeavour Crater. It also has kept Opportunity, the team who operates her, and myself, very busy.

  • Inside Opportunity: Twelve years and counting…

    James RiceJanuary 25th, 2016

    Twelve years ago today on Jan. 25, 2004, was the day that MER-B, Opportunity, was scheduled to land on the Red Planet. Before the many milestones and discoveries that the robotic geologist would make could occur, it had to survive seven minutes of atmospheric entry.