To be sure, Opportunity has dealt with the pains of aging. One of its six wheels doesn't turn as well as it did, one science instrument (a spectrometer called Mini-TES) has shut down, and the rover has been driving with its robotic arm stretched out a bit because of joint issues, Arvidson said.

Even so, the rover continues to plod along and seems ready for the years ahead at Endeavour.

"All in all, I would like to be that healthy after that number of rover years on Mars," Arvidson said.

• The Best (And Worst) Mars Landings in History
• Opportunity Nears Endeavor Crater - 7 Years and Still Roving
• Photos: Gale Crater on Mars, Curiosity Rover's Landing Site

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9 Comments

1. 1. emurphy94108 07:39 PM 8/9/11

   31 feet ≠ 50 meters.

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2. 2. WilliamStoertz 10:51 AM 8/10/11

   One of my prize high school graduates is working on a project aimed at developing a way to operationally terraform planets. Naturally Mars is our first target. In any case, it is an obvious next step for humankind to build a habitat on our neighboring planet, which, more and more, appears to have what it takes for this long-term goal.

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3. 3. ennui 05:44 PM 8/11/11

   Let us try the Moon first. With the advanced technology avalable, (not rockets of any kind) we could be there in a few hours. Look at > One Terminal Capacitor <

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4. 4. stargeek 06:43 PM 8/11/11

   Which is it? 50 meters or 31 feet? 50 meters equals ~164 feet according to my quick conversion chart.

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5. 5. indeseo 07:56 PM 8/11/11

   Tariq-
   were you on the team that crashed one of the Mars exploration satellites??
   even a stupid american should know that 31 ft equals approx. 10 meters, not fiddy
   
   shame, shame

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6. 6. bucketofsquid in reply to WilliamStoertz 10:43 AM 8/12/11

   Unless you can quickly add mass to Mars, your adaptation of Mars to support human life would be only temporary (in planetary terms) because the atmosphere would bleed off as has already happened due to deficiency of gravitational pull. Mining asteroids and shooting the left over slag in tiny pellets to Mars may slowly help to add mass. In a few thousand years it may even make a difference.

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7. 7. andries1+ 04:05 AM 8/13/11

   Just think what America could achieve if they only dropped the imperial system and used the metric like everybody else. So how far from the rim is the Rover then?

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8. 8. Grumpyoleman 04:56 PM 8/15/11

   A meter is 39.37 inches, a little longer than a yard.

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9. 9. Grumpyoleman in reply to andries1+ 05:00 PM 8/15/11

   Not much more than we already achieve. 99% of scientists, engineers, and construction folks are conversant in both systems. Most of the stuff we export is metric.
   
   I'm fluent in both metric and the English system, but prefer using the latter because the measures convey meaning to me.

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