NASA's lone surviving Mars rover has been busy exploring its surroundings since it rolled up to its latest crater destination four months ago. Now the solar-powered Opportunity is in search of a place to spend its fifth winter.

The robot geologist has been scouting out sites along the crater rim that not only have interesting rocks to examine but also ample sunshine. The hardy rover survived four previous Martian winters. Scientists expect no different and even drew up a to-do list.

The last total lunar eclipse of the year is Saturday. And there won't be another one for three years.

Viewers in the western half of the United States will have the best views Saturday well before dawn. The farther west the better.

Breast cancer experts are cheering what could be some of the biggest advances in more than a decade: two new medicines that significantly delay the time until women with very advanced cases get worse.

In a large international study, an experimental drug from Genentech called pertuzumab held cancer at bay for a median of 18 months when given with standard treatment, versus 12 months for others given only the usual treatment. It also strongly appears to be improving survival, and follow-up is continuing to see if it does.

Wayne Rooney has been cleared to play in England's final group match at next year's European Championship following a UEFA decision to reduce his three-match ban to two.

UEFA says its appeals panel deferred the final match of the England striker's three-match suspension on condition of good behavior for four years.

With a star-studded squad that captured the European title in dominating fashion, Barcelona star Lionel Messi thinks his team is obliged to win the 2011 Club World Cup.

Barcelona is returning to the tournament two years after Messi led the Spanish giants to the title in the United Arab Emirates, scoring the winning goal in the 2-1 win over Argentina's Estudiantes.

Zany experiments testing scientific theories in real-world settings have earned the TV show "MythBusters" a devoted following, but a stunt gone awry met with an unhappy audience when an errant cannonball went shooting through a California family's bedroom.

Sheriff's deputies are still measuring how, exactly, the cannonball flew from a bomb range in the rolling hills flanking a suburban San Francisco Bay area neighborhood and rocketed into the front door of a home and through its master bedroom before landing in a neighbor's parked minivan.

Alec Baldwin issued an apology Wednesday to fellow passengers on an American Airlines flight that was delayed by his refusal to stop playing a cellphone game — but stopped short of apologizing to the airline or the flight attendant he later mocked on Twitter.

The "30 Rock" actor's note, posted to the Huffington Post (http://huff.to/sENHR2 ), instead lamented the state of modern air travel. Baldwin noted the financial struggles of airlines, saying the result is that air travel has devolved into an inelegant experience, akin to riding a Greyhound bus.

A helicopter taking people on a luxury sunset tour of the Las Vegas Strip and Hoover Dam crashed into a mountainside Wednesday, killing the pilot and the four passengers on board, federal authorities said.

The aircraft operated by Sundance Helicopters collided into the River Mountains surrounding Lake Mead just before 5 p.m., said National Park Service spokesman Andrew Munoz. Numerous witnesses heard the crash and reported seeing smoke about 4 miles west of the lake's edge, Munoz said, and officials determined that all five people on board were killed.

The world's oldest dog according to Guinness World Records has died in Japan at the age of 26 years and eight months.

Owner Yumiko Shinohara told reporters at her home in Sakura, a city outside Tokyo, that Pusuke, a fluffy tan Shiba mix, died Monday after suddenly falling ill and refusing to eat.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger could head into the busy program of fixtures over Christmas without any recognized full backs after Andre Santos injured his right ankle in the Champions League loss to Olympiakos.

The Brazilian left back, one of the few first-team regulars selected for the 3-1 defeat on Tuesday, was forced off early in the second half.