NASA’s Mars rover, Opportunity has given humanity an unprecedented look at the red planet. And now, nine years into its mission, the rover has set a record.
Last Wednesday, Opportunity set the record for the most-driven NASA vehicle ever to leave Earth. With its latest mission taking it 263 feet to the edge of the Endeavour crater, the rover has driven 22.22 miles away from our planet. That breaks the record of the Apollo 17 lunar rover, which was driven 22.21 miles across the surface of the Moon by astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in December of 1972.
While the rover has set a record for NASA, it doesn’t hold the world record for most distance driven on an alien landscape. The Russian remote-controlled Lunokhod 2 rover, which drove 23 miles on the lunar surface in 1973
Not bad for a piece of technology that was created to last no more than a 6 month mission.
So let’s drive it another mile! Take that Ruskies!