spacetoday.net: Mars rover reaches crater rim

Posted: Thu, Sep 28, 2006, 6:57 AM ET (1057 GMT)
Mars Exploration Rover (NASA/JPL)

The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached the edge of a large impact crater, a major milestone for a mission that has lasted much longer than originally anticipated. Opportunity has reached the rim of the crater Victoria, approximately 60 meters deep and nearly a kilometer in diameter. Scientists initially plan to use the rover to study some rocky outcroppings along the crater rim before deciding how to further explore the crater. Initial images of the crater rim showed evidence of stratification, which could have been caused by liquid water on the Martian surface early in its history. Opportunity has been on the planet since January 2004 and has traveled nearly 10 kilometers, most of that in transit to Victoria. The rover continues to operate well despite having exceeded its originally planned lifetime by a factor of ten. Opportunity's twin, Spirit, is on the other side of the planet, is also still operating, but is staying in place until after the end of the Martian winter.