{"id":804008,"date":"2026-10-13T08:29:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T13:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=804008"},"modified":"2026-10-13T08:29:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T13:29:31","slug":"nasas-perseverance-rover-on-mars-sets-off-world-driving-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=804008","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover on Mars sets off-world driving record"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NASA\u2019s Perseverance Rover Record Drive Path Animation (as of Oct. 11, 2026)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XaxuV6tsIb4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The Mars Perseverance rover has set a new distance record on Mars. Watch its winding path across Mars in this animation, which shows its route from time of its 2021 landing to October 11, 2026. Video via NASA\/ JPL-Caltech.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You deserve a daily dose of good news. For the latest in science and the night sky, <strong>subscribe to EarthSky\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Congratulations, Perseverance rover!<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of October 11, 2026, NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover has driven 28.10 miles (45.22 km) on Mars. That\u2019s a new off-world driving record for total distance driven by any vehicle on the surface of another world. The previous record of 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers) was held by NASA\u2019s Opportunity rover. Perseverance reached that mark on the 2,006th Martian day, or sol, of its mission. NASA said;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It covered in five and a half years a distance that took Opportunity almost 15.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The six-wheeled geologist has in less than six years surpassed a mark set by the agency\u2019s Opportunity rover, which explored the Red Planet for nearly 15 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The milestone came as Perseverance traveled toward an area called <em>Idubi<\/em> through the region off the western rim of Jezero Crater nicknamed <em>Lac de Charmes<\/em>. There, the rover is investigating what may be some of the oldest terrain ever explored in the solar system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rocks and terrain of Lac de Charmes are so ancient that their Earthly equivalents have long since been erased by erosion and plate tectonics. But Mars doesn\u2019t have tectonic plates. And Idubi is where the science team hopes to find traces of ancient hydrothermal (heated water) systems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Humans set goals, Perseverance self-drives<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Much of the credit belongs to Perseverance\u2019s self-driving capability, NASA said. Using an autonomous navigation system known as AutoNav, the rover images the terrain while rolling, builds a 3D map of hazards, and plots its course between waypoints selected by rover planners on Earth \u2014 a capability the team calls <em>thinking while driving<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perseverance can do all that at or near its top speed, covering as much as 1,351 feet (412 meters) in a single sol. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The six-wheeled scientist has driven more than 90% of its total distance using AutoNav to evaluate the terrain. That\u2019s in contrast to about 5% for the first Martian AutoNav system on Opportunity and its twin, Spirit. Where NASA\u2019s first Mars rover, Sojourner, assessed the path ahead using 20 measurement points, Perseverance processes 600,000 with every look.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Steven Lee, the project manager of the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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. The original mission called for no more than 12.4 miles of driving. We\u2019ve blown well past that, and with all mobility systems fully operational and favorable extended-ground-life test results, we expect Perseverance to keep adding to this record for many years to come.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NASA recently approved the mission\u2019s first extension, which began in October and will carry Perseverance\u2019s exploration of the crater rim through roughly the end of 2028.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">One of Perseverance\u2019s navigation cameras captured this shot on October 11, 2026, the Martian day, or sol, that a 299.6-foot (91.31-meter) drive pushed the rover\u2019s total mileage past Opportunity\u2019s 28.06-mile (45.16-km) record on Mars. Image via NASA\/JPL-Caltech.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3 decades of Mars rovers<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perseverance\u2019s record caps nearly three decades of NASA rover operations on Mars, each mission driving farther and more capably than the last.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The microwave-oven-size Sojourner rover covered about 330 feet (100 meters) during its 83-sol mission in 1997. The golf-cart-size twins Spirit and Opportunity arrived in 2004 with 90-sol prime missions. Spirit logged 4.8 miles (7.7 km) before succumbing to the Martian winter in 2010. Opportunity kept rolling for 5,111 sols, completing the first extraterrestrial marathon in 2015 and setting the record Perseverance has now surpassed. The agency\u2019s Curiosity rover, which landed in Gale Crater in 2012 and remains hard at work, has logged more than 23.65 miles (38.07 kilometers).<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mark Maimone, deputy team chief for robotic operations on Perseverance, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rover that broke this record did so by making its own decisions about the path. Given the autonomy to just go, Perseverance is a better driver than the one that landed, and we\u2019re not done,<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our newest software teaches Perseverance to steer less and roll more, and to check its own position against orbital maps mid-drive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The next frontier is sunlight itself. Glare in the navigation cameras is why we park by mid-afternoon if we\u2019re driving toward the sun, and if we can teach the rover to see past those artifacts, every rover that follows gets a longer working day.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Not just Mars, and why it matters<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The extraterrestrial off-road driving record isn\u2019t limited to Mars: Lunar driving records were broken earlier in the journey. Perseverance rolled past both the 22.2 miles (35.7 kilometers) covered by Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt in 1972 and the 24.2 miles (39 kilometers) driven by the Soviet Union\u2019s Lunokhod 2 rover in 1973.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Setting distance records is just a bonus. Stamina and longer drives are putting more geologic diversity within reach faster \u2014 more outcrops examined and more of the Red Planet\u2019s history read from its rocks. That reach carried Perseverance from an ancient lakebed up a fossilized river system, where the rover found a potential biosignature at a rock called <em>Cheyava Falls<\/em>, and on to the crater rim, where an entirely different kind of ancient habitat \u2014 hydrothermal (heated water) \u2014 may await.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perseverance has collected 29 rock and regolith samples. The samples span the crater floor, a delta fan formed by a long-gone river, and now the crater rim. In the latter region, it has been exploring impact-generated rocks some 4 billion years old. On Earth, that chapter of planetary history has been almost entirely erased.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Lac de Charmes, the rover will continue along the crater rim and head south during the extended mission towards <em>Rainbow Falls<\/em>, a 328-foot-wide (100-meter-wide) block of ancient crust uplifted by the impact that created Jezero.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"576\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2026\/10\/driving-distance-records-infographic-NASA-576x1024.png\" alt=\"Infographic showing various driving distances accomplished by Mars and moon rovers.\" class=\"wp-image-560874\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This infographic illustrates the distances driven by various rovers on the surface of Earth\u2019s Moon and Mars. Of the vehicles shown, the NASA Mars rovers Perseverance and Curiosity are still operational and moving across the surface; the figures shown for those two are distances driven as of Oct. 11, 2026. Credit: NASA\/JPL-Caltech.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bottom line: The Mars Perseverance rover has set a new distance record on Mars. It has driven 28.10 miles (45.22 km). Perseverance reached that mark on October 11, 2026, the 2,006th Martian day, or sol, of its mission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read more: Perseverance rover takes its 6th-ever selfie on Mars<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Read more: Curiosity rover insights after 5000+ sols on Mars<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Deborah Byrd<\/h4>\n<p>                    View Articles\n                  <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Deborah Byrd (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. &#8220;Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/nasas-perseverance-rover-on-mars-sets-off-world-driving-record\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Mars Perseverance rover has set a new distance record on Mars. Watch its winding path across Mars in this animation, which shows its route from time of its 2021&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":804009,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-804008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=804008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/804009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=804008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=804008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=804008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}