Nasa says the Opportunity rover has passed the marathon mark for driving on Mars . The space agency said the car sized rover 's odometer checked in at 26.2 miles — the distance of a marathon . The official time ? Eleven years and two months . Scroll down for video . A marathon on Mars : This map shows the rover 's entire traverse from landing to that point . Opportunity and its twin Spirit landed on Mars in January 2004 for what was supposed to be a three-month mission . Both uncovered geologic signs of ancient water . Spirit 's mission ended in 2011 not long after it got stuck in Martian sand . Scientists and engineers will celebrate Opportunity 's achievement by holding their own marathon relay at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory , which manages the mission . Last year , Opportunity broke the record for off-Earth distance traveled that was previously held by the Soviet Union 's Lunokhod 2 moon rover . Opportunity and its twin Spirit landed on Mars in January 2004 for what was supposed to be a three-month mission . Both uncovered geologic signs of ancient water . Spirit 's mission ended in 2011 not long after it got stuck in Martian sand . 'This is the first time any human enterprise has exceeded the distance of a marathon on the surface of another world , ' said John Callas , Opportunity project manager at NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ( JPL ) in Pasadena , California . ' A first time happens only once . ' The long-lived rover surpassed the marathon mark during a drive of 153 feet ( 46.5 meters ) . The vehicle surpassed marathon distance of 26.219 miles ( 42.195 kilometers ) with a drive completed on March 24 , 2015 , during the 3,968th Martian day , or sol , of Opportunity 's work on Mars . Some of the highlights along the route as NASA 's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove as far as a marathon race during the first 11 years and two months after its January 2004 landing in Eagle Crater . This Jan. 6 , 2015 panorama provided by NASA of a 'Marathon Valley ' was taken by the NASA rover Opportunity . 'This mission is n't about setting distance records , of course ; it 's about making scientific discoveries on Mars and inspiring future explorers to achieve even more , ' said Steve Squyres , Opportunity principal investigator at Cornell University in Ithaca , New York . 'Still , running a marathon on Mars feels pretty cool . ' Opportunity 's original three-month prime mission in 2004 yielded evidence of environments with liquid water soaking the ground and flowing on planet 's surface . As the rover continued to operate far beyond expectations for its lifespan , scientists chose the rim of Endeavour Crater as a long-term destination . Since 2011 , examinations of Endeavour 's rim have provided information about ancient wet conditions less acidic , and more favourable for microbial life , than the environment that left clues found earlier in the mission . Earlier this year an increasing frequency of computer resets has prompted the rover team to make plans to reformat the rover 's flash memory . The resets , including a dozen this month , interfere with the rover 's planned science activities , even though recovery from each incident is completed within a day or two . 'Worn-out cells in the flash memory are the leading suspect in causing these resets , ' said John Callas of NASA 's Jet Propulsion Laboratory , Pasadena , California , project manager for NASA 's Mars Exploration Rover Project . 'The flash reformatting is a low-risk process , as critical sequences and flight software are stored elsewhere in other non-volatile memory on the rover . ' Flash memory retains data even when power is off . It is the type used for storing photos and songs on smart phones or digital cameras , among many other uses . Opportunity 's original three-month prime mission in 2004 yielded evidence of environments with liquid water soaking the ground and flowing on planet 's surface . As the rover continued to operate far beyond expectations for its lifespan , scientists chose the rim of Endeavour Crater as a long-term destination . Since 2011 , examinations of Endeavour 's rim have provided information about ancient wet conditions less acidic , and more favourable for microbial life , than the environment that left clues found earlier in the mission . This map shows the southward path driven by Opportunity from late December 2014 until it passed marathon distance on March 24 , 2015 , during the 3,968th Martian day , or sol , of the rover 's work on Mars .
Opportunity and its twin Spirit landed on Mars in January 2004 , and mission was supposed to last for three-months . But the rover failed after only two weeks of operation due to a problem with one of its wheels ( which is why it's called " wheel failure ).