How was the Opportunity rover's operational existence governed after landing in January 2004?

Answer

By pre-loaded sequences of instructions sent from mission control

The *Opportunity* rover operated fundamentally as a sophisticated robot executing predefined commands. Its entire operational timeline was managed by mission control on Earth formulating comprehensive lists of tasks, such as movement instructions or instrument usage protocols. These directives were then transmitted across space to the rover. The vehicle would proceed to execute these commands either autonomously or semi-autonomously, adhering strictly to the sequence sent beforehand rather than receiving moment-to-moment interactive instructions, which is impossible due to interplanetary communication lag.

How was the Opportunity rover's operational existence governed after landing in January 2004?

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Opportunity's Last Message: Why did it go silent on Mars? - YouTube

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