Mark Maimone

Stories

Perseverance rover breaks record for longest drive on another world

Projected Perseverance can reach 100 kilometers total

Perseverance set a new off-world driving record on October 11, 2026, when its odometer read 45.22 kilometers. Opportunity needed nearly 15 years to reach 45.16 kilometers. Perseverance took 5.5.

Updated Oct 30

Notable Quotes

We're looking really good to go for up to 100 kilometers total.

from Perseverance rover breaks record for longest drive on another world · Updated Oct 30

Typically, that starting path comes from the human rover planner team, but in this case, it was generated by AI. Humans were still in the loop; the team reviewed it, and made a couple of adjustments. — to IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, October 2026

from Perseverance rover breaks record for longest drive on another world · Updated Oct 30