Happy Atheist Forum

General => Science => Topic started by: Tank on July 21, 2011, 02:19:14 PM

Title: The shuttle may be history, but not this Opportunity!
Post by: Tank on July 21, 2011, 02:19:14 PM
NASA's Opportunity Tops 20 Miles of Mars Driving (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110719210440.htm)

QuoteScienceDaily (July 20, 2011) — More than seven years into what was planned as a three-month mission on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has driven more than 20 miles, which is more than 50 times the mission's original distance goal.

A drive of 407 feet (124 meters) completed on July 17 took Opportunity past the 20-mile mark (32.2 kilometers). It brought the rover to within a few drives of reaching the rim of Endeavour crater, the rover's team's long-term destination since mid-2008. Endeavour is about 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter, and its western rim exposes outcrops that record information older than any Opportunity has examined so far. The rover is now about eight-tenths of a mile (about 1.3 kilometers) from the site chosen for arriving at the rim...

This tough little bugger just keeps on going!