NASA’s Perseverance Rover Breaks the Record for Distance Driven on Mars
Perseverance has driven 28.1 miles across Mars, passing the record set by the Opportunity rover, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has driven farther on another planet than any vehicle before it, covering 28.1 miles of Martian terrain and counting.
The car-sized rover passed the previous record of 28.06 miles, set by NASA’s Opportunity rover, and did so in less than half the time Opportunity needed, according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It crossed the mark on Oct. 11, when a 299.6-foot drive put it over the line. Perseverance landed on Mars on Feb. 18, 2021, on a mission to search for signs of ancient life.
A record set in less than half the time
The original mission called for no more than 12.4 miles of driving. “We’ve blown well past that, and with all mobility systems fully operational … we expect Perseverance to keep adding to this record for many years to come,” said Steven Lee, the project manager for the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Opportunity roved Mars from 2004 to 2018.
The rover is now driving toward an area called Idubi, off the western rim of Jezero Crater, where it is investigating what NASA describes as some of the oldest terrain ever explored in the solar system. Scientists there hope to find signs of ancient hydrothermal systems.
Self-driving on another world
Perseverance uses a self-driving system its team calls “thinking while driving.” An autonomous navigation system called AutoNav takes images of the terrain, builds a three-dimensional map of hazards and plans a course between points selected by rover planners on Earth. In one Martian day, or sol, the rover can cover 1,351 feet, a pace faster than previous rovers.
One limit is sunlight. Glare hitting the navigation cameras restricts how long the rover can keep rolling in a sol, said Mark Maimone, deputy team chief for robotic operations on Perseverance.
The other rover now on Mars, Curiosity, has driven more than 23.65 miles. Perseverance, launched in 2020, flew a 200-day, 300-million-mile journey before landing in Jezero Crater, which scientists believe was once flooded with water. In 2024 it found a rock containing a potential biosignature, which NASA has described as the closest it has come to discovering life on Mars. NASA recently extended the mission through about the end of 2028.
Reporting based on coverage by USA Today and NASA.
