The Perseverance rover has set a record for the longest trips beyond Earth

The US Mars rover Perseverance has set a record for the longest range of movement on the surface of another planet, having overcome 45,22 km. This was announced on October 12 on the website of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

"It is a great honor for me to work on Perseverance at a time when technology has reached such a level that such trips have become commonplace," said Stephen Lee, head of the Curiosity and Perseverance projects at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The record was set on October 11, the 2006th Mars mission day. Perseverance has surpassed the achievement of the Opportunity rover, which has covered 45.16 km in almost 15 years of operation on Mars. At the same time, it took the new record holder about five and a half years to complete the same distance.

NASA noted that the autonomous navigation system AutoNav played a significant role in achieving the record. It allows the rover to independently analyze the surrounding terrain, create a three-dimensional map of obstacles and plot a route.

Currently, the rover is heading to the Idubi area, located beyond the western edge of the Jezero crater. There, scientists expect to find traces of ancient hydrothermal systems. According to NASA, the rocks under study may be among the oldest geological formations ever studied in the Solar System.

The agency's specialists expect Perseverance to continue to increase the established record, as all its movement systems remain operational. NASA also approved the extension of the mission, which will allow the rover to continue exploring until about the end of 2028.

NASA images reveal the structure of two cosmic nebulae

On October 6, the Curiosity rover transmitted to Earth a panoramic image of a Martian morning, which for the first time shows in detail the remote rocks formed by the action of the wind. Unlike most of the images from this device, the image was processed without standard white balance correction, which made it possible to preserve the characteristic appearance of early morning on Mars.