We may be getting excited for the launch of NASA's nuclear-powered Mars Science Laboratory this Fall, but don't forget we still have a warrior amongst robots currently dominating the Red Planet's surface.
I am, of course, referring to Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, and she's just achieved an incredible feat.
BIG PIC: Mars Orbiter Snaps Rover's Crater Progress
After an epic trek over the Martian plains, the six-wheeled Opportunity has reached the rim of the vast Endeavour crater, a crater some 22 kilometers (14 miles) wide -- 25-times wider than the famous Victoria crater that the rover explored in 2008 (see below for crater-size comparison).
Three years and 21 kilometers (13 miles) later, Opportunity has completed this latest marathon, ready to begin some ground-breaking science on a terrain no Mars mission has ever seen before.
"We're soon going to get the opportunity to sample a rock type the rovers haven't seen yet," said Matthew Golombek, Mars Exploration Rover science team member, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "Clay minerals form in wet conditions so we may learn about a potentially habitable environment that appears to have been very different from those responsible for the rocks comprising the plains."
On Tuesday (Aug. 9), Opportunity phoned home to let mission operators know she had arrived at "Spirit Point" -- the unofficial name of an outcrop at the crater's rim, named after the rover's twin, Spirit.
PHOTOS: Ode to Mars Rover Spirit
In May, NASA made the decision to cease search operations for stranded Spirit after an extended period of silence since March 2010. Spirit Point has therefore become a poignant reminder that Opportunity's twin will never be forgotten.
"Our arrival at this destination is a reminder that these rovers have continued far beyond the original three-month mission," said John Callas, Mars Exploration Rover project manager at JPL.
Indeed, both Opportunity and Spirit were only supposed to operate for a few weeks after landing in 2004, but Opportunity soldiers on, ready to start another campaign in the biggest crater she has explored to date.
Personally, I'm excited to see an orbital view of Opportunity at Endeavour's ridge in the not-too-distant future, photographed by NASA's ever-impressive Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter -- yet another rover-crater portrait to add to Opportunity's Hall Of Fame.
PHOTOS: When Discovery News Met Mars Rover 'Curiosity'
Image (top): Opportunity's view from Spirit Point on Aug. 9 (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU). Image (bottom): Orbital view of Endeavour and Victoria crater -- with Santa Maria crater in between. All were visited by Opportunity (NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
Tags: Impact Craters, Mars, NASA, Robotics
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