NASA’s Perseverance rover has set a new record for the farthest distance driven on another celestial body: on 11 October 2026 its odometer reached 45.22 kilometres (28.10 miles) on Mars, according to the agency’s science blog.
Guinness World Records presented a plaque to the rover’s engineering twin on Earth. Perseverance is currently climbing a crater rim.
The team is refining driving rules after meeting boulder fields and steep slopes: the tilt limit has been raised to 24 degrees and the required belly-pan clearance reduced to 20 centimetres.
Engineers are also developing onboard global localisation, which would let the rover pinpoint its position at the end of a drive and make longer drives without human intervention, and are exploring artificial intelligence for route planning.
