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 23, 2015, relative to where it could surpass that distance.

March 23, 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 23, 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 21, 2015, during the 3,966th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars. The Sol 3966 drive covered about 59 yards (54 meters).

For comparison, a map at http://mars.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?ImageID=6950 shows Opportunity's location as of Feb. 10, 2015.

At the Sol 3966 location, Opportunity is within 47 yards (43 meters) of surpassing the official Olympic marathon-race distance of 26.219 miles (42.195 kilometers).

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

You Might Also Like