January 25, 2014

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The Chinese tennis player Na Li won the Grand Slam Australian Open tournament 2014 defeating Dominika Cibulkova in the final 7-6 (3) 6-0. For the Chinese it’s the first title at the Australian Open, her second in the Grand Slam after the Roland Garros won in 2011.

The Mars Rover Opportunity's route on Mars (Image NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/NMMNHS)

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At 5:05 UTC on January 25, 2004, the Mars Rover Opportunity landed on Mars. Therefore, it’s been 10 Earth years since this extraordinary robot started its 3-month mission. Two years ago, when I wrote an article celebrating the eighth anniversary of its landing, Opportunity was already the holder of the record for longevity for missions one the surface of Mars, today it’s also the robot that holds the record for the distance traveled on the surface of another world with 38.7 km (24 miles), more than the 37 km (23 miles) traveled by the Soviet Lunokhod 2 robot on the Moon.