NASA's Mars Opportunity rover climbed its steepest slope ever traversed by a rover on the Red Planet however, the 12-year old rover became stuck, failing to move any further and tilting to 32 degrees.

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Opportunity is known for its climbing skills where it was focusing on a mission to study a particular rock located near the crest of the Knudsen Ridge which is a land formation that is part of a more massive Martian feature, the Marathon Valley.

In a new image released by NASA, it was determined that Opportunity did not reach its final destination target last March 10 even if it resulted in numerous healthy wheel rotations that could have made up for any potential slips or falls. 

Unfortunately, the rover was only able to climb a mere 3.5 inches since its wheels were slipping greatly according to NASA officials last Thursday. Scientists initially estimated that Opportunity should be able to complete 66 feet without any slippage on the trail.

Last Mrch 10, the rover attempted to climb again to reach the rock specimen for the third time which is also the steepest slope ever tackled by a Martian rover. Finally, mission scientists decided it was the end of these attempts, skipping the target rock and moving on.

Ever since that incident, Opportunity descended that hill and in the past three weeks, the rover moved some 200 feet down south to another target in the Marathon Valley region. According to NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data, this rock formation target apparently possesses some clay minerals that can contain liquid water. 

Opportunity has been active on Mars since 2004 which landed on the Red Planet weeks after its twin rover, Spirit. The main mission of the twin rovers was to search for any presence of liquid water that once flowed or even frozen today on Mars.

Both rovers gathered much evidence and data where the mission is expected to last for a period of three months. However all contact was lost with Spirit in 2011 but Opportunity remained active today and still exploring the terrain and surface of the planet for any possible signs of life.