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What were some of the highlights of the travels of the Opportunity rover?
Mars Missions in the Twenty-First Century
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Opportunity landed in the broad expanse of Mars’ Meridiani Planum, right in the middle of a small, sixty-foot-wide crater called Eagle Crater. After studying geological features within that crater, it went on to explore Endurance Crater and Heat Shield Rock (the first meteorite identified outside of Earth). After getting stuck on Purgatory Dune for two months, it was able to escape and moved on to study Victoria Crater and Endeavor Crater, reaching it in 2011. Opportunity has traveled more than twenty-two miles since its landing. It currently holds the record for the longest rover travel in a single day: 582 feet (177.5 meters).