NASA's Perseverance rover sets record for off-world driving distance

Perseverance reached the mark in about five and a half years, while Opportunity needed nearly 15 years to accumulate its total, according to Engadget. The rover's top speed is roughly 0.1 mph, and NASA has described the terrain it has been assigned to cross as difficult. The vehicle weighs 2,260 pounds.

The record was set as Perseverance traveled toward a region called Idubi, where it will examine a feature named "Lac de Charmes" that contains some of the oldest terrain explored anywhere in the solar system. "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 (Mars doesn't have tectonic plates), and Idubi is where the science team hopes to find traces of ancient hydrothermal systems," NASA said.

NASA attributes part of the rover's endurance to navigation decisions made by its autonomous AutoNav system. The system images terrain and identifies hazards in real time while the rover drives itself between waypoints selected by its planners, processing 600,000 measurement points with each look. More than 90 percent of Perseverance's total distance has been driven autonomously, according to the agency.

A recent software update allows the rover to roll more and steer less, reducing wear on its parts, and to check its own position against orbital maps while driving. The team's next goal is to address camera glare caused by sunlight that limits the rover's vision, which would allow it to work longer days.

Perseverance has out-driven Opportunity, but NASA's Curiosity rover remains active on Mars and has traveled 38.15 km (23.7 miles) to date. The next most traveled US vehicles are the crewed rovers from the Apollo 16, 17 and 18 missions; among them, the Apollo 17 rover covered the greatest distance, 35.74 km (22.21 miles).