Long-lived Mars rover heading to new destination

U.S. space agency NASA said Friday its veteran Mars rover Opportunity is on the road again, heading to a new study area on the surface of the Red Planet. The destination, called "Solander Point," offers Opportunity access to a much taller stack of geological layering than the area where the rover has worked for the past 20 months, called "Cape York," NASA said. Both areas are raised segments of the western rim of Endeavour Crater, which is about 22 kilometers in diameter. The new area also offers plenty of ground that is tilted toward the north, which is favorable for the solar-powered rover to stay active and mobile through the coming Martian southern-hemisphere winter, said the space agency. "We're heading to a 15-degree north-facing slope with a goal of getting there well before winter," John Callas, project manager for the Mars exploration rover project, said in a statement. The minimum-sunshine days of this sixth Martian winter for Opportunity will come in February 2014. NASA said Opportunity, approaching its 10th anniversary of leaving Earth, shows symptoms of aging, such as loss of motion in some joints, but continues to accomplish groundbreaking exploration and science. NASA launched Opportunity and its twin, Spirit, in 2003. Both rovers found evidence of wet environments on ancient Mars, and Spirit has already ceased operations for about three years. Earlier this week, NASA said that its Mars rover Curiosity, which landed on the planet last August, is also to drive toward a new destination: a mountain known as Mount Sharp.