Perseverance rover surpasses Opportunity's driving distance, setting a new historical record

The Perseverance rover has set a new world record — its driving distance on the surface of an extraterrestrial body has surpassed that of all previous probes. On October 11, its odometer reading reached 28.10 miles (45.22 kilometers), overtaking the previous record of 28.06 miles (45.16 kilometers) held by Opportunity. Opportunity conducted exploration on Mars between 2004 and 2018. It took Opportunity nearly 15 years to cover that distance, while Perseverance took only five and a half years. This milestone occurred on its 2,006th Martian day. A major reason Perseverance can travel long distances is that it carries an advanced autonomous driving system. This system is called AutoNav. Relying on it, the rover mostly does not need to wait for detailed driving instructions from Earth and can find its own way on the Martian surface. During travel, Perseverance continuously captures images of its surroundings, builds three-dimensional maps containing obstacle information, and plans safe routes on its own between destinations selected by ground operators. The system allows the rover to travel at close to its maximum speed, advancing up to 1,351 feet (412 meters) in a single Martian day. More than 90% of Perseverance's driving distance has relied on AutoNav's autonomous terrain assessment. By contrast, the early autonomous navigation systems of Opportunity and its twin probe Spirit could autonomously assess only about 5% of their driving segments.