Endeavour (crater) - Opportunity

Since August 2008, Mars Exploration Rover-B Opportunity has been travelling toward this crater. Craters that have been explored by Opportunity include Victoria crater which is 750 meters (0.47 miles) in diameter, Endurance crater which is 130 meters (0.08 miles) in diameter, and Eagle crater which is 22 meters (0.01 miles) in diameter.

On March 7, 2009 (sol 1,820), Opportunity first saw the rim of Endeavour after driving about 3.2 kilometers (2.0 mi) since it left Victoria in August 2008. Opportunity also saw Iazu crater, which is about 38 kilometers (24 mi) away and about 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) in diameter. At that time, Opportunity was 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) from Endeavour as the Martian crow flies, but to avoid hazards, it was estimated that it would take about 30% more driving distance than that to reach Endeavour. Based on the amount of time it had taken to drive from Victoria, it was estimated that this journey would take over one Martian year (23 months). On May 5, 2010, to avoid hazardous dune fields along the direct path between Victoria and Endeavour, the charted route between the two craters was extended to an estimated 19 kilometers.

On September 8, 2010, it was announced that Opportunity had reached the halfway point of the 19-kilometer journey between Victoria crater and Endeavour crater. By June 28, 2011, Opportunity was just under 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from landfall at the rim of Endeavour crater.

On August 4, 2011, Opportunity was only 120 metres (390 ft) from the rim of Endeavour, and on August 9, 2011 Opportunity arrived at the west rim near Spirit Point to study outcrops never seen before. It explored the northwest outcrops of the the crater for about 2 Earth years, before heading south Solander Point.


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