Perseverance rover sets new record for longest drive on alien terrain

During its latest Martian sol, Perseverance covered enough ground to eclipse the distance record previously held by Opportunity since July 27 2014. The additional mileage was achieved largely without direct human control, thanks to the AutoNav navigation suite that autonomously steers the rover toward pre-selected waypoints while mapping terrain in three dimensions. The mission team also demonstrated a new self-localization technique that matches panoramic images taken by the rover with stored orbital photographs, allowing Perseverance to pinpoint its position on the Red Planet within about 25 centimetres after a two-minute computation. These advances underscore the increasing sophistication of robotic exploration tools managed from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.