Afghanistan, Oct. 14 -- NASA's Perseverance rover has set a new record for the longest distance driven by any vehicle on the surface of another world, travelling 45.22 kilometres on Mars since landing in February 2021.
The six-wheeled rover reached the milestone on October 11, its 2,006th Martian day, or sol, surpassing the previous record of 45.16 kilometres set by NASA's Opportunity rover, which operated on Mars from 2004 until 2018. Perseverance covered the distance in about five and a half years, compared with nearly 15 years for its predecessor.
NASA said the rover broke the record while travelling through an area known as Lac de Charmes, near the western rim of Jezero Crater, toward a region called Idubi. Scientists are examining so...