That said, it had not all been plain rolling.Opportunity had spent a few harrowing sols stuck in sand at Purgatory Ripple; later, one of its steering motors failed.While it was exploring Victoria it was caught in a global dust-storm that cut it off from Earth and covered its solar panels with dirt.Happily, though, the same winds that drove the storms also blew the panels clean, or cleaner, after their passing.A joint in the shoulder of its robot arm, dicky since the mission started, finally seized up.On March 30th 2011, Sol 2,155 of its mission to Gusev, Spirit failed to check in with Earth by radio as scheduled;it was never heard from again.Opportunity continued its long trek to Endeavour crater, 1,000 times larger than the crater in which it had started off.The point where it reached the rim was named Spirit Point, in memoriam.On August 6th 2012 a newer, bigger rover, Curiosity, landed at the foot of Aeolis Mons, thousands of kilometres away.Opportunity looked after itself for nine days to allow the scientists and engineers to make a fuss of the newcomer,then set out to study the intriguing smectite clays that a European orbiter had detected on Cape York, a peak further along Endeavour’s rim.
话虽如此，事情并非一帆风顺。“机遇号”用了数个火星日才摆脱“炼狱沙丘”；再然后，有一个转向马达坏了。在探索维多利亚州的过程中，“机遇号”遭遇了一场火星沙尘暴，致使与地球失联，太阳能电池板上布满了灰尘。不过，令人高兴的是，引起沙尘暴的风，也能将太阳能电池板吹干净。自开始执行任务以来，其机械手臂上的一个关节就很脆弱，最终停止运转。2011年3月30日，第二个太阳日，勇气号在飞往古谢夫的任务中，未能如期通过无线电与地球取得联系；从此再无消息。“机遇号”继续长途跋涉，来到“奋进”陨石坑，比它出发时的陨石坑大1000倍。为纪念，到达的陨坑边界被称为“勇气点”。2012年8月6日，一辆更新、更大的火星车“好奇号”在数千公里外的埃奥里斯蒙斯山脚下着陆。在科学家和工程师们一直对新布置的好奇号更加上心时，“机遇号”自己行进了9天，然后开始研究一颗欧洲人造卫星在约克角发现的有趣的蒙脱石粘土，约克角是“奋进”陨石坑边缘更远的山峰。
暂无注释
