NASA’s Mars rover Opportunity entered Victoria Crater for the first time to explore the richest science trove of its long mission.

On the rover’s 1,291st Martian day, Opportunity radioed home information via a relay by NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter, reporting its activities for the day, according to NASA mission updates on Tuesday.

‘Toe dip’
Opportunity drove far enough in — about four metres — to get all six wheels past the crater rim. Then it backed uphill for about three metres. This short trip is called a ‘toe dip’, and scientists want the rover finally to travel 40 feet (about 12.2 metres) down toward a bright band of rocks in the crater.

“We will do a full assessment of what we learned from the drive on Wednesday and use that information to plan Opportunity’s descent into the crater,” said John Callas, rover project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Over the next few days, engineers will check the rover’s instruments and send commands to it to conduct the actual descent.

Exploration
Once Opportunity begins its extended exploration inside the crater, it will investigate layered rocks exposed on the interior slope.