NASA’s Mars rover reaches major milestone with record-breaking journey
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has set a world record for the farthest distance driven by any vehicle on the surface of another world.
NASA’s Mars rover breaks record for longest drive on another world
This animated orbital-map shows the route NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has taken from time of landing to Oct. 11, the day it broke the off-world driving record.
THE TAKEAWAY
- NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover broke a world record on Oct. 11.
- The rover drove the farthest distance on another world than any other vehicle.
- The milestone came when the rover was exploring traces of ancient hydrothermal systems.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has set a world record for the farthest distance driven by any vehicle on the surface of another world.
HOW OFTEN DO METEORITES CRASH IN THE US?
On Oct. 11, the rover reached 28.10 miles, surpassing the previous record of 28.06 miles set by NASA’s Opportunity rover.
The milestone also marks three decades of NASA rover operations on Mars.
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took a self-portrait against a sweeping backdrop of ancient Martian terrain at a location the science team calls "Lac de Charmes."
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS / NASA)
"The original mission called for no more than 12.4 miles of driving," Steven Lee, project manager for the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said. "We’ve 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."
BREATHTAKING VIEWS: NASA RELEASES 12,000 NEW PHOTOS FROM ARTEMIS II MISSION
The milestone came as Perseverance traveled toward an area called "Idubi," a region off the western rim of Jezero Crater, where the rover is investigating what may be some of the oldest terrain ever explored in the solar system.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover captures stunning images (Color enhanced)
(NASA)
According to NASA, the goal of the exploration is to find traces of ancient hydrothermal systems.
Using its autonomous navigation system, known as AutoNav, the rover captures images of the terrain while moving, builds a 3-D map of potential hazards and plots a course between waypoints selected by rover planners on Earth.
NASA’S PERSEVERANCE ROVER CAPTURES STUNNING SELFIE IN ANCIENT MARTIAN TERRAIN
Perseverance has driven more than 90% of its total distance using AutoNav to evaluate the terrain, compared with about 5% for the first Martian AutoNav system on Opportunity.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover captures stunning images
(NASA)
"Our newest software teaches Perseverance to steer less and roll more, and to check its own position against orbital maps mid-drive," Mark Maimone, deputy team chief for robotic operations on Perseverance, said.
"The next frontier is sunlight itself. Glare in the navigation cameras is why we park by mid-afternoon if we’re 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," he continued.