Mars 2020 Mission Team Members
Oct 21, 2026
Written by Vandi Verma, Chief Engineer for Robotic Operations at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Oct. 12, 2026
Since the final blog update, Perseverance has achieved a important milestone on Mars. On Sol 2006 (Oct. 11, 2026), its odometer reached 45.22 kilometers (28.10 miles), environment a new record for the farthest extend driven on another celestial body. Its engineering twin current on Earth equal received a plaque from Guinness World Records celebrating the achievement.
Two months ago, on Sol 1947, the odometer sat concerning 200 meters distant from the milestone, a extend effortlessly achievable alongside a sole run using Autonomous Navigation (AutoNav). However, the rover established itself in a extremely scientifically engaging area and spent period executing abbreviated drives to execute rock abrasions and proximity discipline on ancient rock outcrops. When Perseverance was eventually prepared to move on to a new site, it sailed former the record.
On its way to the run record, Perseverance has navigated challenging terrain during additionally pioneering new ways to run throughout the Martian surface. Perseverance’s assorted encounters alongside compact boulder sectors and steep slopes have pushed the squad to re-evaluate driving guidelines so the rover is improved prepared to grip durable terrain. After operating thousands of simulations, the squad raised the rover’s tilt bounds to 24 degrees and reduced the clearance required under the rover’s belly pan to 20 centimeters (about 7.9 inches). The squad additionally updated the rover’s braking application to evade rock hazards, nearly doubled steer motor current limits, updated escape application alongside “dynamic stumble tables” to example expected slip, and used cross-slope driving to improved anchor wheels on exposed bedrock.
One of the most breathtaking updates the squad has made is an autonomous run capability called onboard Global Localization (GBLC). GBLC repurposes the high-speed business processor inner the Ingenuity Helicopter Base Station to difference dirt and orbital imagery to autonomously find the rover in earth coordinates at the end of a run (as although we had GPS on a earth without it), enabling Perseverance to run longer distances without individual intervention. Unlike Perseverance’s chief escape computer, this coprocessor is not hardened against the punishing radiation surroundings of the Martian surface, anywhere a lean ambiance and the deficiency of a earth magnetosphere depart small shielding. This radiation can induce “transient bit flips” in recollection the application needs to function, and the squad developed an productive software-based method to radiation hardening. Looking onward to the greater demands of longer drives and to preparedness additional action alongside small resources, the squad is additionally exploring the use of generative SI to assistance efficiently propose solutions to steer AutoNav alongside the many legs of a strategic path.
The squad is using hard-won lessons from 45 kilometers (more than 28 miles) of driving to reinvent how the rover drives throughout the Martian surface. As Perseverance climbs higher alongside the crater rim, the next jump in autonomous exploration on Mars is fair getting started.
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