Opportunity Rover Surpasses Marathon Distance

A CLOSER LOOK

Eleven years and two months after its landing on Mars, the total driving distance of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity surpassed the length of a marathon race: 26.219 miles (42.195 kilometers). This map shows the southward path driven by Opportunity from late December 2014 until it passed marathon distance on March 24, 2015, during the 3,968th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. Recent drives bring the vehicle close to a science destination called "Marathon Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover team is using instruments on Opportunity to study "Spirit of St. Louis Crater" before entry into Marathon Valley. Opportunity reached the Sol 3881 location near the top of the map on Dec. 24, 2015. A map showing wider context of Opportunity's route from its Jan

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