Assuming all goes well and Opportunity is repaired and reassembled without issue, another big challenge is going to be timing. Opportunity’s onboard clock operates on a different time than the systems here on Earth that control it. Her ground control systems tell time using a 32-bit UNIX time system, while the actual rover relies on a special spacecraft clock. This is because many of the systems that are used to command spacecraft are old. For instance, Opportunity's command stations were purchased prior to launch—around 2002—and since they run on a UNIX system, they are plagued by this clock issue. (Newer stations do not have this problem.)