Overview
- NASA’s Perseverance rover reached 28.10 miles on Sunday when a 91.31-meter drive pushed its odometer past Opportunity’s 28.06-mile mark.
- More than 90% of Perseverance’s total distance was driven using AutoNav, an onboard system that builds 3D maps from stereo images and picks safe routes while the rover moves.
- The rover is moving through Lac de Charmes toward an area called Idubi to examine ancient rim rocks and look for evidence of past hydrothermal systems that could preserve signs of past life.
- Perseverance has cached 29 rock and soil samples and previously collected a rock nicknamed Cheyava Falls that contains a possible biosignature still under study.
- JPL reports the rover’s instruments and redundant systems remain in excellent shape, NASA approved a mission extension through roughly the end of 2028, and assessments indicate the vehicle could keep operating into the 2030s.