Supposedly, opportunity is a time or set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.
It is also the name of a NASA mars rover with a 10 year birthday, today. (25 January 2004 Opportunity landed on Mars)
Between the 26 December 2013 and 8 January 2014 a rock, just over an inch in size, mysteriously appeared on the red planet surface.
NASA speculates that the rock may have been flipped over by one of the 384 pound rover’s wheels, even though photographs do not support this theory. There is also no evidence of impact, wind or any obvious and easy explanation for the appearance of the rock.
NASA is still to advise whether the rock is gray hematite and because of the opportunistic interest in Opportunity, they probably will release additional information as not doing so will only fuel speculation and interest.
Opinion on NASA budget
Even with the money NASA received there is still not enough to cover everything and some cuts will have to be made.
Read more here:
About the Mars-Rovers Spirit and Opportunity
NASA Press Release about the mysterious appearance of a white rock on the red planet (Mars):
Rock That Appeared in Front of Opportunity on “Murray Ridge”
This before-and-after pair of images of the same patch of ground in front of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity 13 days apart documents the arrival of a bright rock onto the scene. The rover had completed a short drive just before taking the second image, and one of its wheels likely knocked the rock — dubbed “Pinnacle Island” — to this position. The rock is about the size of a doughnut.
The images are from Opportunity’s panoramic camera (Pancam). The one on the left is from 3,528th Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s work on Mars (Dec. 26, 2013). The one on the right, with the newly arrived rock, is from Sol 3540 (Jan. 8, 2014). Much of the rock is bright-toned, nearly white. A portion is deep red in color. Pinnacle Island may have been flipped upside down when a wheel dislodged it, providing an unusual circumstance for examining the underside of a Martian rock.
The site is on “Murray Ridge,” a section of the rim of Endeavour Crater where Opportunity is working on north-facing slopes during the rover’s sixth Martian winter.