After almost 15 years exploring the surface of Mars, the mission of NASA’s Opportunity Rover finally came to an end. Opportunity has been falling silent since eight months ago, on June 2018, during a severe dust storm that swept across the Red Planet, according to NBC. The rover provided evidence confirming that water once flowed on the Martian surface — suggesting that Mars might once have been habitable.

“For more than a decade, Opportunity has been an icon in the field of planetary exploration, teaching us about Mars’ ancient past as a wet, potentially habitable planet, and revealing uncharted Martian landscapes,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. “Whatever loss we feel now must be tempered with the knowledge that the legacy of Opportunity continues – both on the surface of Mars and in the clean rooms of JPL, where the upcoming Mars 2020 rover is taking shape,”

“I was there yesterday, and I was there with the team as these commands went out into the deep sky. And I learned this morning that we had not heard back. I’m standing here with a sense of deep appreciation and gratitude that I declare the Opportunity mission as complete,”

It was originally designed to operate for only about 90 days, although it surpassed the planned mission. It was launched on July 7, 2003 and touched down on Mars on Jan. 25, 2004.