ScienceCasts: The First Extraterrestrial Marathon

More than 8 years after landing on the Red Planet, Mars rover Opportunity is still running. Indeed, mission planners say the tireless robot is poised to complete a full marathon--the first ever long-distance race on an alien planet.

[Dyslexic-Artist-Theory-on-Time]

Interesting video!
This is an invitation to see an artist theory on the physics of light and time!
This theory is based on two postulates
1. Is that the quantum wave particle function Ψ represents the forward passage of time ∆E ∆t ≥ h/2π itself
2. Is that Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle ∆×∆p×≥h/4π that is formed by the w- function is the same uncertainty we have with any future event that we can interact with turning the possible into the actual!

[maximusjmaxwell]

Amazing! I'm so ashamed of myself...I'm an Astronomy major and I was not aware Lunokhod 2 rover and it's lander Luna 21. It's sad that other countries' accomplishments seem to get swept under the rug. I've been aware that the Soviets did virtually everything before us (the US) in space, which of course it seems like most people still aren't aware of that fact. Thanks for posting that info:)

[AhishDeshpande]

When Opportunity wins the 1st Mars Marathon against Curiosity. News Channels on Earth -
"Opportunity was given a wonderful opportunity to win a Marathon on Mars and was also given the opportunity to continue."
Person who doesn't know science - "Who is opportunity?"

[dekippiesip]

You would have the spirit and opportunity walking and running tracks. Spirit for the beginners and opportunity for the more experienced runners. But what if opportunity exceeds our expectation and drives more than a marathon? That would be a pretty toughp track then.

[zenaa]

It's wonderful when technology supersedes the expected limits. Opportunity is a great over achiever and well worth the time, energy, and money spent to accomplish its extraterrestrial endeavor. Now if we can terraform Mars to accommodate life from earth... Wow!!

[jakobsybren]

Maybe 150 years from now, human runners will be actually running a marathon on Mars, following the path that Opportunity carved out, in honor of the extraordinarily big successes of the Opportunity mission (and really the Spirit rover should be included in the honors as well)

[youtooyoutoo]

My presumption is that Mars was warmer before it lost most of its atmosphere. Earth is a bit more stable in that respect because it is bigger, so the atmosphere is held more strongly.

[basemkandah]

Opportunity has done something I would like to have done. Spend eight years on mars and live to tell about it. Spirit, you win olympic gold too. May you live long.

[tp]

Not so much a congratulations to the rover, but to the engineers who built it and got it there, and also the program operators who have kept it going so far from home.

[dwreid]

My hat is off to those brilliant scientists and engineers who built and operate this marvelous robot. What an achievement. May it serve for a long time to come.

[CRTLALTBACKSPACE]

No one will ever forget Spirit. Kudos to Opportunity. Your bigger sister Curiosity is almost there to join in the adventure. I can't wait : )

[kGoldenRocket]

Wrong. Sunita Williams, NASA Astronaut, ran the Boston Marathon on the treadmill on the ISS. She was, EXTRATERRESTRIAL, outside of Earth.

[ChicknHead]

Everyone forgets about the voyager he is about to leave our solar system, it's our machine which we will probably never see again :/

[youtooyoutoo]

Any company could (& have), but the cost pressure makes 'long life' bulbs non-competative. CF & LEDs are their best alternatives.

[youtooyoutoo]

No one wants to go back an annotate them all for the public because most are unremarkable and indestinguishable (boooorrrring!).

[youtooyoutoo]

They'll have to re-route the marathon around the condos & garbage dumps.
(Anyway, most earthly marathons are loops.)

[alananderson]

It's been days that I can not enter the site nasa. gov. Anyone else having the same problem??

I wonder what we would find if we dug into the mars surface? Subteranian water? :O

[youtooyoutoo]

That way, when we finish pooping this nest, our progeny can continue on Mars.

[ifuwrnot]

What the heck is all that on the Martian Scape at