Opportunity has been quite abuzz in the space exploration community when it was finally retired after 15 years exploring Mars, much longer than its expected useful life of 90-sol.
With all the data it gathered, Opportunity has paved the way for future missions that could go in for the long haul much like it did. Though it isn't the only mission that lasted for a long stretch, NASA could use what they have learned for their next expeditions in space.
To make sure that interstellar probes, planetary explorers, and even the ground-based system that support them do not fail, or at least maximize the time until failure, NASA has developed a massive body of very specific and very stringent workmanship standards.
As Gerrit Coetzee pointed out a few years back, the workmanship standards documents are themselves works of great beauty. They cover every conceivable kind of electromechanical assembly, showing the “NASA way” of doing it correctly.
How to solder correctly, when to crimp instead, how to prevent PCB damage, how to prevent electrostatic discharge damage, and even how to properly tension wire ties are all covered. For my money, though, the pièce de résistance is the section on lacing wiring harnesses. Pure engineering beauty.
(Image credit: Hackaday)