NASA's Perseverance Rover Sets World Record For Longest Drive On Mars

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has set a world record by driving farther than any vehicle has ever travelled on the surface of another world. On October 11, the rover's odometer reached 45.22 kilometres, surpassing the previous record of 45.16 kilometres set by NASA's Opportunity rover, which explored Mars from 2004 to 2018, according to NASA.

Perseverance achieved the milestone on the 2,006th Martian day, or sol, of its mission. It covered the distance in five and a half years, while Opportunity took almost 15 years to travel the same distance.

The milestone came as Perseverance travelled towards an area called Idubi through a region near the western rim of Jezero Crater known as Lac de Charmes. The rover is investigating what may be some of the oldest terrain ever explored in the solar system.

According to NASA, the rocks and terrain in Lac de Charmes are so ancient that their equivalents on Earth have long since been erased by erosion and plate tectonics. Mars does not have tectonic plates. At Idubi, the science team hopes to find traces of ancient hydrothermal systems.

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Much of Perseverance's achievement is attributed to its self-driving capability. The rover uses an autonomous navigation system called AutoNav, which captures images of the terrain while moving, creates a three-dimensional map of potential hazards and plots a route between points selected by planners on Earth. The team describes this ability as thinking while driving.

Perseverance can perform these tasks at or near its top speed, covering up to 1,351 feet (412 metres) in a single Martian day. The rover has used AutoNav to assess the terrain for more than 90% of its total driving distance. In comparison, the first Martian AutoNav system, used on Opportunity and its twin rover, Spirit, was responsible for about 5% of their driving.

NASA's first Mars rover, Sojourner, assessed the path ahead using 20 measurement points. Perseverance processes 600,000 measurement points every time it examines the terrain.

Steven Lee, project manager of the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said the rover's technological progress had made such drives routine. 

Lee said all the rover's mobility systems remained fully operational and extended-ground-life test results were favourable. The team therefore expects Perseverance to continue adding to its record for many years.

NASA recently approved the mission's first extension, which began in October and will allow Perseverance to continue exploring the rim of Jezero Crater until approximately the end of 2028.