How long can the rover keep functioning on Mars?
This question is difficult to answer for there are many unknowns to consider. The rover hardware was designed to last at least seven days which it has done. Even when the rover batteries become depleted, we can still function during the daytime. After that, if the solar panel fails or becomes covered with dust, the rover will not have enough power to operate. A sudden dust storm could cut short the rovers life by obscuring the sun and covering its solar panel with dust. Also, during the winter months on Mars, it will be much colder and the sun will be lower in the Martian sky. During that season the lander may stop functioning because it can’t generate enough solar power to keep running some of its mission critical hardware, like the telecommunications system. If the batteries on the lander do become depleted and it is decided to not keep recharging them, then we can run a lander ‘solar-only’ mission. If that were to happen then operation on Mars would be limited to between 4 and 6 hou
