Opportunity celebrates 10 years on Mars

Maxon’s standard DC motors, from the RE family, have had to cope with the demanding temperature fluctuations, between -120 °C and +25 °C, as well as extreme shock and high vibration. The motors have not failed despite long periods of being immobile and feature an efficiency of over 90 percent even in the dry, airless atmosphere of the Red Planet.

Each wheel on six-wheeled, solar powered robot has its own maxon motor and they can also be found in the titanium robotic arm that has two joints at the shoulder, one at the elbow and two at the wrist, the grinding and brushing Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT), the numerous specialised on-board cameras, as well as the control mechanism.