NASA's Perseverance rover sets Mars driving record with 45.2 km

The NASA rover Perseverance has driven 45.2 kilometres on Mars, Der Spiegel reported. That surpasses the 45.16 kilometres covered by Opportunity, the previous record holder. Perseverance needed nearly five and a half years for its distance, while Opportunity took almost fifteen years, according to the outlet. Der Spiegel reported that no other vehicle has travelled as far on a celestial body other than Earth.

Der Spiegel reported that the record rests mainly on Perseverance's autonomous navigation system, AutoNav. According to NASA, the rover handles 90 percent of its drives without human input. It uses stereo images to build a 3D map of the terrain and chooses the safest route itself; scientists only set waypoints. A faster processor that processes the camera images also lets it drive almost continuously, the outlet reported, while earlier rovers had to stop before each segment to calculate their route.

Steven Lee of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Perseverance is in "excellent condition". Lee is part of the leadership team for the rovers Perseverance and Curiosity. Tests show the rover could cover distances of more than 100 kilometres, he said, according to Der Spiegel.

Since landing in 2021, Perseverance has explored Mars, focusing on the Jezero Crater, Der Spiegel reported. The outlet described the crater as a region that was probably a lake basin billions of years ago. It reported that the rover found a possible biosignature there, which could point to ancient microbial life. The area could also give information about early geological processes, according to the outlet.

Observations from orbit suggest parts of the crater rim once held hydrothermal systems with warm groundwater, Der Spiegel reported. Such systems could have offered a life-friendly environment beneath the surface. Lee said some palaeontologists suspect life on Earth began in similar environments.

The older rover Curiosity is trying to climb a mountain near the Martian equator and has covered 38.15 kilometres in 14 years, Der Spiegel reported. The New York Times reported that advances in self-driving technology have made it easier to traverse distant worlds.