PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The two Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have taken their 50,000th picture on the surface of the red planet, NASA reported Friday.
With 18 cameras between them, there now are more than twice as many images from the rovers as there are from NASA's three previous Mars surface missions combined. The pictures range from microscopic studies of rocks to portraits of the surface miles away.
The rovers originally were scheduled for only a three-month mission. They began a second extension of their missions on Oct. 1.
"The cameras on Spirit and Opportunity have been reliable, sharp eyes for our adventure of exploring some amazing places on Mars," said Justin Maki of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., an imaging scientist on the rover team. "The pictures continue to be stunning," he said. "One big difference from earlier Mars surface missions is that the rovers continue to show us new places and new sights."
Spirit and Opportunity, which originally were scheduled for only a three-month mission, began a second extension of their missions Oct. 1 and both have passed three times their expected operational lifetimes on Mars.
