Perseverance Passes Opportunity to Become the Farthest-Driving Rover on Another World

NASA's Perseverance rover has driven farther than any vehicle ever operated on the surface of another planet. As of Sunday, the rover had traveled 28.1 miles on Mars, beating the 28.06 miles recorded by NASA's Opportunity rover over its 15-year exploration of the planet from 2004 to 2018, the space agency said.

Perseverance, which has been exploring Mars since landing in February 2021, passed the mark while driving along the western rim of Jezero Crater. Scientists have tasked the rover with studying what they believe may be some of the oldest terrain in the solar system, and they hope to find traces of ancient hydrothermal systems there, meaning underground networks that heat water.

The rover has already made major discoveries at Jezero. A few years into the mission, Perseverance had gathered enough data for scientists to build a timeline of the crater's formation, dividing its history into three major periods after water first entered it. In 2023, NASA said it was possible microbial life once existed there.

Perseverance has covered so much ground in a relatively short time because it can drive itself. Its autonomous navigation system, AutoNav, collects images of the surrounding terrain, maps hazards and plans its own route as the rover rolls. Mission scientists call the skill "thinking while driving." The rover can navigate itself even at top speed, covering up to 1,351 feet in a single sol, the term for one solar day on Mars.

"It is an honor to be working on Perseverance at a moment when the technology has evolved to the point that drives like these are routine," said Steven Lee, project manager of the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement.

Lee said the rover has "blown well past" the 12.4 miles of driving the mission originally expected. He added that Perseverance will likely "keep adding to this record for many years to come."

NASA recently extended the mission so the rover can keep exploring the rim of Jezero Crater until the end of 2028. The record is a narrow margin over Opportunity, but the gap should grow with every drive. Opportunity's own run, a mission designed for 90 days that lasted 15 years, set the standard for how far a rover could be pushed. Perseverance reached the same distance in about five years, a pace that reflects how much rover autonomy has advanced since Opportunity landed.