Opportunity Mars Rover Passes Marathon Distance

NASA | MARCH 25, 2015

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity completed its first Red Planet distance on March 24, 2015 - 42.195 kilometers - with a finish time of roughly 11 years and two months.

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity surpassed marathon distance on March 24, 2015, as the rover neared a destination called "Marathon Valley," which is middle ground of this dramatic view from early March. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This is the first time any human enterprise has exceeded the distance of a marathon on the surface of another world.

The long-lived rover surpassed the marathon mark during a drive of 46.5 meters. Last year, Opportunity became the long-distance champion of all off-Earth vehicles when it topped the previous record set by the former Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 moon rover.

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