A Rover's 3-Year Drive Across Mars

By Nancy Atkinson - October 11, 2011 02:43 AM UTC | Planetary Science

Here's a look at the Opportunity rover's three-year trek across 20 km (13 miles) of Meridiani Planum on Mars, using the unique vantage point of the rover itself. During the drive from Victoria Crater to Endeavour Crater, rover planners captured a horizon photograph at the end of each drive. 309 images taken during the journey appear in this video.

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com