Space Journal Entry
Space Journal Entry
Opportunity Sets Record (May 31, 2010)
View of Mars rover Opportunity's recent tracks across the planet's surface on its way to Endeavour Crater. NASA.
On January 25, 2004, the Mars rover Opportunity landed on the Red Planet. Now more than six years later, the spacecraft is still going strong exploring the planet's surface. The rover now holds the record for the longest mission to Mars, passing the old mark of 2,245 days held by Viking I.
Opportunity's twin rover Spirit is still on Mars too. In fact, Spirit arrived on the planet a few weeks before Opportunity. But Spirit got stuck in soft sand, then went silent after losing power two months ago as the cold, dark Martian winter began. NASA scientists aren't sure if it will ever wake from its winter hibernation but haven't given up hope yet. Both rovers, originally scheduled for 90-day missions, have delivered goldmines of data over the past six years.
Meanwhile, Opportunity keeps chugging along. It recently passed the 12-mile (20-kilometer) mark on its adventure. Since mid-2008, the rover has been making tracks towards the huge Endeavour Crater after exploring Victoria Crater. Its photos show that Endeavour has vast plains with rippled sand dunes. Images from orbiting spacecraft show the crater has clay minerals exposed on the surface. These minerals typically form in wet environments much less acidic than those Opportunity has explored so far. Scientists say this more neutral type of environment would have been more hospitable to any living things on ancient Mars.
