US space agency, NASA has described the approaching of its Mars rover Opportunity to the 22.5km-wide Endeavour crater as huge scientific success.

The rover has traveled more than 32km since it landed with a parachute on the surface of the red planet in 2003, along with its twin rover Spirit three-month mission. Spirit became trapped n sand only last year and sent its final signals from the planet.

Opportunity has an average speed of 60cm an hour and has been able to crawl out of a crater in 2008 and headed south to the Endeavour. It made some of the journey backward in order to protect its front wheels from wearing out. The rover will travel south across the rim of the crater and perform a geological assessment of the location. It will examine clay minerals formed under wet conditions.

The final point has been nicknamed Spirit Point to honor of Opportunity's twin rover. Scott Maxwell, leader of the Mars Rover driving team wrote on Twitter, "The drive we uplink today will actually take us physically on to Cape York. So. *Freaking*. Excited."

Project manager John Callas, of the Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory said that the team will focus on this location for years to come as there is huge amount of geology to explore.