NASA's Perseverance Rover Breaks Record For Off-World Driving Distance

The nuclear-powered buggy has now traveled 28.10 miles, besting NASA's Opportunity rover.

NASA/JPL

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover just broke the record for the farthest distance traveled by any vehicle on another world, the space agency announced. The six-wheeled, nuclear-powered buggy has now traveled 28.10 miles (45.22 km) as of October 11th, besting NASA's Opportunity rover that rolled 28.06 miles (45.16 km) across the red planet's surface. Perseverance managed the feet in just five and a half years, compared to nearly 15 for the plucky Opportunity.

Last we checked with Perseverance, it was officially a marathon finisher with 26.2 miles under its pock-marked metal wheels. While the 28.1 miles it's covered to date may not seem like much, it's pretty good considering the vehicle's maximum speed is a glacial 0.1 mph. It's also impressive considering the challenging terrain it's been tasked to transit, as NASA showed in the video...

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