Perseverance breaks distance record on Mars
The NASA rover has travelled 45.22 kilometres, surpassing the record set by its predecessor Opportunity.
Listen to this article
There is no audio version yet. Request one and an AI voice will read the article aloud.
Read by an AI voice.
NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance has set a new record for the greatest distance travelled by a vehicle on another world. The rover passed the distance NASA’s Opportunity had previously reached on Mars on 11 October.
Perseverance’s odometer reached 28.10 miles, or 45.22 kilometres. That took the rover past the previous record of 28.06 miles, or 45.16 kilometres, held by Opportunity.
Perseverance reached the milestone on its 2,006th Martian day, or sol. It has taken the rover about five and a half years to cover the distance. Opportunity operated on Mars for nearly fifteen years before that mission ended.
According to NASA, Perseverance travelled more than 90 per cent of its total distance using AutoNav. The system uses images of the surface to map obstacles and calculate a route between pre-selected points.
During the record journey, the rover travelled towards an area the research team calls Idubi, on the western edge of Jezero crater. Around Lac de Charmes, the mission is examining rocks that may belong to very ancient geological layers.
The aim is not simply to cover distance. Researchers want to reach more rocks and collect samples that could provide information about Mars’s geological history. NASA describes possible evidence of ancient hydrothermal activity as a research question, not an established discovery.
According to NASA, Perseverance has so far collected 29 rock and regolith samples. The rover will continue driving during an initial mission extension, which runs approximately until the end of 2028.
The record is a technical milestone and not evidence that life exists or once existed on Mars. The new data come from an official NASA mission update; the report is not an account of a new peer-reviewed study. Its main significance lies in the greater distance the rover can travel and the additional terrain that consequently comes within reach.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The factual core was checked directly with NASA and confirmed by Reuters. The article clearly distinguishes between a technical record and scientific conclusions about Mars.
- confirmed Perseverance reached 45.22 kilometres on 11 October. — NASA gives 28.10 miles and 45.22 kilometres. source
- confirmed Opportunity’s previous record was 45.16 kilometres. — NASA gives 28.06 miles and 45.16 kilometres. source
- confirmed Perseverance uses AutoNav for more than 90 per cent of its distance. — The NASA mission update gives this percentage. source
- confirmed The mission has been extended approximately until the end of 2028. — NASA refers to an initial mission extension lasting approximately until the end of 2028. source
- confirmed Perseverance has collected 29 rock and regolith samples. — This number appears in NASA’s mission update. source
Editor's note
The record distance, date, route and mission details come from NASA’s mission update and have been independently carried by Reuters. This is an official science and technology update, not a peer-reviewed research result; claims about ancient life remain research questions.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- de Volkskrant — „mars perseverance”
- RTL Nieuws — „mars perseverance”
- NOS — „mars perseverance”