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United States Air ForceDelta II 7925H-9.5Space Launch Complex 17B, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
Opportunity Rover
Launched
July 8, 2003
Summary
Opportunity Rover launched on an United States Air Force Delta II 7925H-9.5 from Space Launch Complex 17B, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA on July 8, 2003. It was United States Air Force's 1,052nd launch, 8th this year and humanity's 4,608th orbital launch attempt. It was the 1st Delta II 7925H-9.5 flight. The payload was bound for Heliocentric N/A (Helio-N/A). Opportunity Rover, one of 3 catalogued objects, reached a 162 × 183 km orbit inclined 29.4°. 3 objects from this launch are catalogued, one of them a payload.
- Watch
- Watch NASA's Opportunity Rover Launch to MarsVideoFromSpace
- Vehicle
- Delta II 7925H-9.5 · United States Air Force
- Booster
- No booster details on record.
- Mission
- Planetary Science · Heliocentric N/A (Helio-N/A)
- Milestone
- 1st Delta II 7925H-9.5 flightUnited States Air Force's 1,052nd launch8th this yearhumanity's 4,608th orbital launch attempt32nd orbital launch attempt this year
Webcast
Flight preview
Orbit: as tracked
Opportunity Rover · NORAD 27849 · 2003-032 · Space-Track · tracking 1 of 3 objects
Show the numbers for orbit elements
- Object
- MARS EXPLORER ROVER B
- Object ID
- 2003-032A
- Epoch
- 2003-07-08 04:30:31 UTC
- Mean motion
- 16.40084591 rev/day
- Eccentricity
- 0.0015779
- Inclination
- 29.3995°
- Ascending node
- 147.7491°
- Arg. of perigee
- 357.8435°
- Mean anomaly
- 30.3192°
- Element set
- 999
- Rev at epoch
- 0
- B*
- 0
Perigee, apogee and period are Kepler figures from the catalogued mean elements, not a propagated state. Published orbit: Helio-N/A. Ascent drawn from padside's representative profile.
Catalogued objects
3 catalogued: 1 payload, 2 rocket stages
- Opportunity Rover · NORAD 27849 · left Earth orbit July 8, 2003
Delta 299 Stage 3 · left Earth orbit July 8, 2003
Delta 299 · re-entered July 25, 2004
Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org
About this launch
Opportunity, also known as MER-B or MER-1, and nicknamed "Oppy", is a robotic rover that was active on Mars from 2004 until the middle of 2018. Opportunity was able to stay operational for 5111 sols after landing, maintaining its power and key systems through continual recharging of its batteries using solar power, and hibernating during events such as dust storms to save power. Due to the planetary 2018 dust storm on Mars, Opportunity ceased communications on June 10 and entered hibernation on June 12, 2018. It was hoped it would reboot once the weather cleared, but it did not, suggesting either a catastrophic failure or that a layer of dust had covered its solar panels.
Pad
Space Launch Complex 17B, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
119th launch from Space Launch Complex 17B, 2nd this year · 612th from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
132 launches from this pad · 1,131 from Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
159 days after the previous launch from this pad
Questions
When did Opportunity Rover launch?
Opportunity Rover launched on July 8, 2003. The time is known to the hour, not the minute.
Where can I watch Opportunity Rover?
Coverage: Watch NASA's Opportunity Rover Launch to Mars. Watch the replay
What rocket launched Opportunity Rover?
Delta II 7925H-9.5, flown by United States Air Force. Delta II 7925H-9.5 spec sheet
Where did Opportunity Rover launch from?
Space Launch Complex 17B, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA.
What orbit did Opportunity Rover reach?
Opportunity Rover, one of 3 catalogued objects, reached a 162 × 183 km orbit inclined 29.4°.
How many satellites did Opportunity Rover launch?
1 payload from this launch is catalogued (Data from J. McDowell, planet4589.org).