Perseverance rover sets record by traveling 45.22 km across Mars — Space.com

NASA’s Perseverance rover has traveled 45.22 kilometers across the surface of Mars, setting a record for the greatest distance traveled on the surface of another celestial body. The spacecraft crossed the 28.10-mile mark on October 11, Space.com reports.

Opportunity’s previous record

Previously, the longest route traveled across the surface of another celestial body belonged to another NASA rover, Opportunity. It took approximately 14 years to cover that distance. Perseverance covered it in just over five years.

An image taken by Perseverance captured the rover’s own tracks on the dusty Martian surface. The photo shows the trails left behind by its movement.

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Exploring the Red Planet

Perseverance has been operating on Mars since 2021. During that time, it has observed various rocks, explored boulder fields and Martian slopes, and collected samples. The publication notes that recent observations using the rover have provided the most compelling evidence to date of possible biosignatures on the planet.

At the same time, there is still no definitive evidence that life once existed on Mars. Vandi Verma, chief engineer for robotic operations at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, noted in a mission update that the team continues to seek new ways to remotely operate rovers working on other planets.