Planetary Science

Opportunity

337 tracked publications and 17,870 citations from 2004–2026. Mars Exploration Rovers Opportunity. Launched 2003. Life-cycle cost: $756M in 2025 dollars. Active Mission Window February 1, 2004 to March 1, 2021: 299 publications, 31 top-10% credit.

Rover · h-index 71 · 48 papers with 100+ citations · prime mission ended 2004

Lifetime

Scope Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the prime mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Every tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. Methods

Key measures

Active Mission Window · papers February 1, 2004 to March 1, 2021
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed research papers we found for the mission. The list may not be complete. Methods299
CitationsCitations received by the tracked publications in the selected scope. The two windowed scopes count each paper’s citations only within its citation window. Methods4,734
Mean citations per publicationMean citations: total citations divided by tracked publications in the selected scope. One blockbuster paper can lift it. Methods16
Median citations per publicationMedian citations: the middle paper’s citation count in the selected scope; half the papers have more, half fewer. A single blockbuster sways it less than the mean. Methods7
Uncited publicationsUncited publications: papers with no citations in the selected scope. Methods30 (10%)
Top-10% creditTop 10%: among the 10% most-cited papers from this division’s missions, ranked against papers published around the same time. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods31 · 2.8% of division
Top-1% creditTop 1%: among the 1% most-cited papers from this division’s missions within the selected window. Not adjusted for publication year. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods6.5 · 6.0% of division
Lifetime indices · every tracked publication to date, in any scope
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods71
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods123
m-index, as of October 4, 2026m-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes, so it belongs to the date shown; it also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods3.1
toritori (total research impact, from ADS): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Methods98
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Methods429

Tracked publications

  1. In Situ Evidence for an Ancient Aqueous Environment at Meridiani Planum, Mars

    Squyres, S. W., 2004, Sci

    827 citations

  2. Jarosite and Hematite at Meridiani Planum from Opportunity's Mössbauer Spectrometer

    Klingelhöfer, G., 2004, Sci

    658 citations

  3. Stratigraphy and sedimentology of a dry to wet eolian depositional system, Burns formation, Meridiani Planum, Mars

    Grotzinger, J. P., 2005, E&PSL

    506 citations

  4. The Opportunity Rover's Athena Science Investigation at Meridiani Planum, Mars

    Squyres, S. W., 2004, Sci

    422 citations

  5. Eight-year climatology of dust optical depth on Mars

    Montabone, L., 2015, Icar

    422 citations

  6. An integrated view of the chemistry and mineralogy of martian soils

    Yen, Albert S., 2005, Natur

    349 citations

  7. Mineralogy at Meridiani Planum from the Mini-TES Experiment on the Opportunity Rover

    Christensen, P. R., 2004, Sci

    347 citations

  8. Chemistry of Rocks and Soils at Meridiani Planum from the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer

    Rieder, R., 2004, Sci

    346 citations

  9. Chemistry and mineralogy of outcrops at Meridiani Planum

    Clark, B. C., 2005, E&PSL

    341 citations

  10. Ultrahigh resolution topographic mapping of Mars with MRO HiRISE stereo images: Meter-scale slopes of candidate Phoenix landing sites

    Kirk, R. L., 2008, JGRE

    327 citations

  11. Sedimentary rocks at Meridiani Planum: Origin, diagenesis, and implications for life on Mars

    Squyres, Steven W., 2005, E&PSL

    283 citations

  12. The Río Tinto Basin, Spain: Mineralogy, sedimentary geobiology, and implications for interpretation of outcrop rocks at Meridiani Planum, Mars

    Fernández-Remolar, David C., 2005, E&PSL

    246 citations

  13. Curiosity at Gale Crater, Mars: Characterization and Analysis of the Rocknest Sand Shadow

    Blake, D. F., 2013, Sci

    242 citations

  14. Geochemical modeling of evaporation processes on Mars: Insight from the sedimentary record at Meridiani Planum

    Tosca, N. J., 2005, E&PSL

    229 citations

  15. Aeolian processes at the Mars Exploration Rover Meridiani Planum landing site

    Sullivan, R., 2005, Natur

    226 citations

  16. Mössbauer Spectroscopy of Earth and Planetary Materials

    Dyar, M. Darby, 2006, AREPS

    223 citations

  17. Meridiani Planum and the global hydrology of Mars

    Andrews-Hanna, Jeffrey C., 2007, Natur

    218 citations

  18. Atmospheric Imaging Results from the Mars Exploration Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity

    Lemmon, M. T., 2004, Sci

    210 citations

  19. Wavelength dependence of dust aerosol single scattering albedo as observed by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer

    Wolff, M. J., 2009, JGRE

    205 citations

  20. Erosion rates at the Mars Exploration Rover landing sites and long-term climate change on Mars

    Golombek, M. P., 2006, JGRE

    203 citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Astrophysics Data System (ADS) for peer-reviewed articles naming Opportunity in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces. SciX is ADS’s current interface.

(((=abs:"Mars Exploration Rover" OR =abs:"Mars Exploration Rovers" OR =abs:"Spirit rover" OR =abs:"Opportunity rover" OR (abs:Spirit AND (abs:"MER-A" OR =abs:"Mars Rover" OR =abs:"Mars Rovers" OR =abs:"Mars roving" OR abs:Gusev)) OR (abs:Opportunity AND (abs:"MER-B" OR =abs:"Mars Rover" OR =abs:"Mars Rovers" OR =abs:"Mars roving" OR =abs:"Meridiani Planum")) OR (((abs:Pancam AND NOT abs:ExoMars) OR =abs:"Mini-TES" OR =abs:"Microscopic Imager" OR =abs:"Rock Abrasion Tool") AND (abs:Gusev OR =abs:Meridiani OR =abs:"Columbia Hills" OR =abs:"Home Plate" OR =abs:"Victoria crater" OR =abs:"Endeavour crater" OR =abs:"Endurance crater"))) AND ((=abs:"Opportunity rover" OR =abs:"Opportunity rovers" OR =abs:"rover Opportunity" OR =abs:"rovers Opportunity" OR =abs:"Spirit and Opportunity" OR =abs:"Opportunity and Spirit" OR =abs:"MER Opportunity" OR =abs:"Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover" OR =abs:"Opportunity Mars Exploration Rovers" OR =abs:"Opportunity Mars rover" OR =abs:"Opportunity MER" OR =abs:"Opportunity tracking" OR abs:"MER-B" OR =abs:"Opportunity site" OR =abs:"Opportunity landing" OR =abs:"Opportunity mission" OR =abs:"Opportunity missions" OR =abs:"Opportunity traverse" OR =abs:"Opportunity data" OR =abs:"Opportunity Mini-TES" OR =abs:"Opportunity Mössbauer" OR =abs:Meridiani OR =abs:"Burns formation" OR =abs:"Endeavour crater" OR =abs:"Eagle crater" OR =abs:"Endurance crater" OR =abs:"Victoria crater" OR =abs:"hematite spherules" OR =abs:"Marathon Valley" OR =abs:"Perseverance Valley" OR =abs:"Erebus crater" OR =abs:"Bounce Rock" OR =abs:"Cape York") OR (=abs:"Mars Exploration Rovers" AND NOT ((abs:Spirit AND NOT =abs:"Spirit of St. Louis") OR abs:"MER-A" OR abs:Gusev OR =abs:"Columbia Hills" OR =abs:"Husband Hill" OR =abs:"Home Plate" OR abs:Wishstone OR =abs:"Columbia Memorial Station"))))) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[2004-02 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "AIASJ" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NewSc" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Removed after review (9)

  1. Magnetic and optical properties of airborne dust and settling rates of dust at the Phoenix landing site Duplicate record of 2010JGRE..115.0E23D (same paper). Decision 🤖
  2. 2010JGRE..115.0F01A Editorial introduction to a journal special section; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  3. Introduction to special section on Results from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit and Opportunity Missions Editorial introduction to a journal special section; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  4. Dust storms on Mars propel water's escape to space Science news story; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  5. 2003JGRE..108.8097W Pre-landing outline of how rover Mössbauer data will be analysed; reports no Mars data. Decision 🤖
  6. Magnetic properties experiments and the Surface Stereo Imager calibration target onboard the Mars Phoenix 2007 Lander: Design, calibration, and science goals Describes Phoenix lander magnet experiments; mentions the rovers only as design heritage. Decision 🤖
  7. Mars Science Laboratory Mission and Science Investigation Overview of the Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity) mission; Opportunity is mentioned only in passing. Decision 🤖
  8. Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) Investigation Instrument description of the Curiosity rover's MAHLI camera; a different mission. Decision 🤖
  9. Radiometric Calibration Targets for the Mastcam-Z Camera on the Mars 2020 Rover Mission Instrument description of the Mars 2020 Mastcam-Z calibration targets; Opportunity is mentioned only as design heritage. Decision 🤖