This map updates progress that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is making toward reaching a driving distance equivalent to a marathon footrace. It indicates the rover position on March 5, 2015, relative to where it could surpass that distance.

March 05, 2015

This map updates progress that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is making toward reaching a driving distance equivalent to a marathon footrace. It indicates the rover's position on March 5, 2015, relative to where it could surpass that distance.

North is up. The southern end of the blue traverse line marks the rover's location after completion of a drive on March 3, 2015, during the 3,948th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars.

For comparison, a map at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19141 shows Opportunity's location as of Feb. 10, 2015.

At the Sol 3948 location, Opportunity is within 140 yards (128 meters) of surpassing the official Olympic marathon-race distance of 26.219 miles (42.195 kilometers). The rover's route might zigzag as the rover team chooses a path toward Marathon Valley, so there is uncertainty about where exactly it will pass marathon distance.

The base map is an image product from High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Credits

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

ENLARGE

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