NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Breaks Off-World Driving Record on Red Planet

NASA's Mars rover Opportunity has reached a new mile marker. It's officially driven more than 25 miles after landing on the Red Planet in 2004, which means that it now holds the off-Earth roving distance record.

"Opportunity has driven farther than any other wheeled vehicle on another world," said John Callas, Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager, in a news release. "This is so remarkable considering Opportunity was intended to drive about one kilometer and was never designed for distance. But what is really important is not how many miles the rover has racked up, but how much exploration and discovery we have accomplished over the distance."

The previous record was held by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 rover. After landing on Earth's moon in 1973, the rover drove 24.2 miles in less than five months.

Now, though, Opportunity has surpassed that particular distance. A drive of 157 feet on July 27 put the rover's total count at 25.01 miles. This move brought the rover southward along the western rim of the Endeavor Crater, where it is examining outcrops on the crater's rim containing clay and sulfate-bearing minerals. It will then approach the next investigation site, dubbed "Marathon Valley." Observations from spacecraft orbiting Mars suggest that several clay minerals are exposed close together at this valley site, surrounded by steep slopes where the relationships among different layers may be evident.

"We're in a second golden age now, and what we've tried to do on Mars with Spirit and Opportunity has been very much inspired by the accomplishments of the Lunokhod team on the moon so many years ago," said Steve Squyres, principal investigator for NASA's twin Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit. "It has been a real honor to follow in their historical wheel tracks."

Currently, Opportunity is continuing its trek across Mars as it makes new discoveries about the Red
Planet.

For more information about NASA's Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, visit the NASA site here.