The Opportunity rover has been ambling along Mars' dusty surface for over a decade. NASA thinks it's time to reformat the rover's memory so it can continue to fulfill its mission.

NASA intends to reformat Opportunity flash memory this October. The reformatting will upgrade and improve the quality and speed of data transmissions from wanderer.

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Opportunity, or MER-B, has explored Mars for exactly 10 years and eight months. Some of the rover's solar cells no longer function, a fact that makes the reformatting a necessity.

Reformatting will both clear the machine's memory as well as identify worn out cells. The cells might already be worn out due to long-term and frequent use, said John Callas from NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.

The rover can be turned off while the reformatting takes place. The flash memory still stores data such as images it captures even if it's turned-off. Thus, the need for data to be downloaded to clear the rover's cluttered flash memory.

Opportunity still functions very well, however. The past weeks saw scientists re-set the rover's computer a couple of times. These resets delayed the rover's job of discovering signs of  microbial life in Mars.

This isn't the first time NASA will reformat a rover's flash memory. It did the same for the rover, Spirit, in 2009 because the rover's computer began experiencing memory failures.  .

The two rovers, which landed back in 2004, were expected to last for only three months. The rovers' mission was to determine if there are traces of water in the dry planet.

A year later, Spirit stopped sending communications and data to Earth because one of its wheels became stuck.

NASA tried its best to help the rover get unstuck but all efforts failed.

TagsOpportunity Rover, NASA, Mars, Explores, Flash Memory, Reformat