A 1970s Soviet rover
did indeed travel about 3 miles farther on the surface of the moon than
originally thought, meaning that any robot hoping to break its off-world
distance record will have to run a full marathon, researchers say.
The remote-controlled
Lunokhod 2 moon rover was long thought to have traveled 23 miles (37
kilometers) on the lunar surface back in 1973. But a Russian team recently
upped the estimate to 26 miles (42 kilometers), using images snapped by NASA's
sharp-eyed Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
