HOW OFTEN DO METEORITES CRASH IN THE US?<\/a><\/p>\n On Oct. 11, the rover reached 28.10 miles, surpassing the previous record of 28.06 miles set by NASA\u2019s Opportunity rover.<\/p>\n The milestone also marks three decades of NASA<\/a> rover operations on Mars<\/a>.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Perseverance Mars rover took a self-portrait against a sweeping backdrop of ancient Martian terrain at a location the science team calls “Lac de Charmes.”<\/p>\n (NASA\/JPL-Caltech\/ASU\/MSSS \/ NASA)<\/p>\n “The original mission called for no more than 12.4 miles of driving,” Steven Lee, project manager for the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said. “We\u2019ve blown well past that, and with all mobility systems fully operational and favorable extended-ground-life test results, we expect Perseverance to keep adding to this record for many years to come.”<\/p>\n BREATHTAKING VIEWS: NASA RELEASES 12,000 NEW PHOTOS FROM ARTEMIS II MISSION\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n The milestone came as Perseverance traveled toward an area called “Idubi,” a region off the western rim of Jezero Crater, where the rover is investigating what may be some of the oldest terrain ever explored in the solar system.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Perseverance Rover captures stunning images (Color enhanced)<\/p>\n (NASA)<\/p>\n According to NASA, the goal of the exploration is to find traces of ancient hydrothermal systems.<\/p>\n Using its autonomous navigation system, known as AutoNav, the rover captures images of the terrain<\/a> while moving, builds a 3-D map of potential hazards and plots a course between waypoints selected by rover planners on Earth<\/a>.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019S PERSEVERANCE ROVER CAPTURES STUNNING SELFIE IN ANCIENT MARTIAN TERRAIN<\/a><\/p>\n Perseverance has driven more than 90% of its total distance using AutoNav to evaluate the terrain, compared with about 5% for the first Martian AutoNav system on Opportunity.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s Perseverance Rover captures stunning images<\/p>\n (NASA)<\/p>\n “Our newest software teaches Perseverance to steer less and roll more, and to check its own position against orbital maps mid-drive,” Mark Maimone, deputy team chief for robotic operations on Perseverance, said.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/hin95bsbaaaf0lp.jpeg\")
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