"Spirit broke the record for the farthest distance driven in one sol (day) on Mars, traveling 21.2 meters (69.6 feet). Today's distance traveled shattered the Sojourner rover's previous record of seven meters (23 feet) in one sol," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement.

Soujourner's record was set during the US Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997.

"In the coming sols, Spirit will continue its drive towards the crater nicknamed "Bonneville," NASA added. Over the weekend it finished examining the interior of a rock dubbed Adirondack, drilling a tiny hole in it for the first time in Mars exploration.

"The rock is volcanic basalt," NASA said.

Meanwhile "the first outcrop (Spirit's twin rover) Opportunity examined up close is finely-layered, buff-colored and in the process of being eroded by windblown sand.

"Pictures taken ... reveal gray spherules, or small spheres, within the layered rocks," said mission scientific expert Steve Squyres.

"The spheres may have formed when molten rock has sprayed into the air by a volcano or a meteor impact. Or, they may be concretions, or accumulated material, formed by minerals coming out of solution as water diffused through rock," he added.

The two rovers are on a three-month mission to examine Martian soil and rocks to determine whether the planet once had the ability to host life.

SPACE.WIRE