"We are proud that our know-how has made an important contribution to the success of this great mission. The results we have achieved set standards", says Micro-Hybrid Managing Director Dr. Knuth Baumgärtel.

The task of the Mars robot was to find clues to the presence of water in the past. In order to investigate the rock at the bottom of the barren desert landscape and to analyse chemical elements, a alpha-proton X-ray spectrometer with electronics from Micro-Hybrid on board was used.

Originally, the mission of the little hero was set at 90 days and 1 km. But the exciting research trip on the planet led the true fighter almost 14 years and more than 45 km through landscapes that no human has ever seen before. With more than 200.000 pictures he shared his experiences with us.

During this time, the rover could also provide evidence that water must have existed in liquid form on Mars.

A sandstorm in summer 2018 was probably too much for Opportunity. Until the beginning of 2019 NASA tried to contact the rover again and again. But without success. On 13 February, the robot's mission was officially declared complete.

"The mission made clear to us what groundbreaking successes cutting-edge technology can achieve for the future. It is precisely these projects that may eventually lead to people actually entering Mars," says Dr. Knuth Baumgärtel.