Mars Rover Still Trudging Along

Mars Rover, Opportunity, which has been on the Mars surface since 2004, is headed for a new crater now. For seven years it has been trudging all over the surface, but surprisingly it has only covered about 21 miles of ground.  That’s pretty good considering it is a space craft over 50 million miles away from earth. But what is Opportunity learning and how long can it continue? Originally the operating window was 90 days, which has stretched amazingly to seven years. However,  one area the rover hasn’t explored is the planets highest summit, Mount Olympus,  the tallest mountain in the solar system and one that far exceeds anything we have on earth. Also, take note on October 23rd, since that is the date chosen by Bishop Usher in the 1600’s when he tried to figure out when the solar system was born. He did this by counting events through the old testament. However, many are not sure how he could have picked an exact date. And don’t miss what’s in the night sky this week.[audio: st20111017.mp3]