NASA's Perseverance rover broke a record on Mars

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that the Perseverance rover, which continues its work on Mars, has broken a new distance record.

According to NASA's statement, the car-sized 6-wheeled exploration vehicle, which reached Mars in 2021, traveled a total of 45.22 kilometers on the surface of the planet.

Thus, Perseverance became the new owner of the record for the longest driving distance achieved by a rover on the surface of a planet other than Earth.

LEFT OPPORTUNITY'S RECORD BEHIND

Perseverance surpassed the record of 45.16 kilometers set by the Opportunity rover, which operated on Mars between 2004 and 2018.

Reaching the record on the 206th day of its mission, Perseverance completed the distance in 5.5 years that Opportunity covered in approximately 15 years.

NASA: 'WILL IMPROVE THE RECORD FURTHER'

Perseverance Project Manager Steven Lee stated that the rover significantly exceeded the initially projected driving distance.

Lee said, "The mission was predicted to drive at most 12.4 miles (19.96 kilometers). We have far exceeded this, and with all locomotion systems fully operational and the positive results of long-term ground tests, we expect Perseverance to further improve this record in the coming years."

EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES ON MARS WILL CONTINUE

According to NASA's statement, Perseverance will continue its exploration activities on the edge of the Jezero Crater on Mars until the end of 2028.

The rover is expected to reach new distance records in the coming years.