{"id":43518,"date":"2025-12-20T00:29:01","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T16:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-will-soon-find-out-if-the-perseverance-rover-can-really-persevere-on-mars\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T00:29:01","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T16:29:01","slug":"nasa-will-soon-find-out-if-the-perseverance-rover-can-really-persevere-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-will-soon-find-out-if-the-perseverance-rover-can-really-persevere-on-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA will soon find out if the Perseverance rover can really persevere on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the Perseverance rover arrived on Mars nearly five years ago, NASA officials thought the next American lander to take aim on the red planet would be taking shape by now.<\/p>\n

At the time, the leaders of the space agency expected this next lander could be ready for launch as soon as 2026\u2014or more likely in 2028. Its mission would have been to retrieve Martian rock specimens collected by the Perseverance rover, then billed as the first leg of a multilaunch, multibillion-dollar Mars Sample Return campaign.<\/p>\n

Here we are on the verge of 2026, and there\u2019s no sample retrieval mission nearing the launch pad. In fact, no one is building such a lander at all. NASA\u2019s strategy for a Mars Sample Return, or MSR, mission remains undecided after the projected cost of the original plan ballooned to $11 billion. If MSR happens at all, it\u2019s now unlikely to launch until the 2030s.<\/p>\n

That means the Perseverance rover, which might have to hand off the samples to a future retrieval lander in some circumstances, must continue weathering the harsh, cold, dusty environment of Mars. The good news is that the robot, about the size of a small SUV, is in excellent health, according to Steve Lee, Perseverance\u2019s deputy project manager at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).<\/p>\n

\u201cPerseverance is approaching five years of exploration on Mars,\u201d Lee said in a press briefing Wednesday at the American Geophysical Union\u2019s annual fall meeting. \u201cPerseverance is really in excellent shape. All the systems onboard are operational and performing very, very well. All the redundant systems onboard are available still, and the rover is capable of supporting this mission for many, many years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rover\u2019s operators at JPL are counting on sustaining Perseverance\u2019s good health. The rover\u2019s six wheels have carried it a distance of about 25 miles, or 40 kilometers, since landing inside the 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer) Jezero Crater in February 2021. That is double the original certification for the rover\u2019s mobility system and farther than any vehicle has traveled on the surface of another world.<\/p>\n

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This enhanced-color mosaic is made from three separate images taken on September 8, 2025, each of which was acquired using the Perseverance rover\u2019s Mastcam-Z instrument. The images were processed to improve visual contrast and enhance color differences. The view shows a location known as \u201cMont Musard\u201d and another region named \u201cLac de Charmes,\u201d where the rover\u2019s team will be looking for more rock core samples to collect in the year ahead. The mountains in the distance are approximately 52 miles (84 kilometers) away.<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Going for 100<\/h2>\n

Now, engineers are asking Perseverance to perform well beyond expectations. An evaluation of the rover\u2019s health concluded it can operate until at least 2031. The rover uses a radioactive plutonium power source, so it\u2019s not in danger of running out of electricity or fuel any time soon. The Curiosity rover, which uses a similar design, has surpassed 13 years of operations on Mars.<\/p>\n

,<\/p>\n

There are two systems that are most likely to limit the rover\u2019s useful lifetime. One is the robotic arm, which is necessary to collect samples, and the other is the rover\u2019s six wheels and the drive train that powers them.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make sure we can continue operations and continue driving for a long, long way, up to 100 kilometers (62 miles), we are doing some additional testing,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWe\u2019ve successfully completed a rotary actuator life test that has now certified the rotary system to 100 kilometers for driving, and we have similar testing going on for the brakes. That is going well, and we should finish those early part of next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ars asked Lee why JPL decided on 100 kilometers, which is roughly the same distance as the average width of Lake Michigan. Since its arrival in 2021, Perseverance has climbed out of Jezero Crater and is currently exploring the crater\u2019s rugged rim. If NASA sends a lander to pick up samples from Perseverance, the rover will have to drive back to a safe landing zone for a handoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually had laid out a traverse path exploring the crater rim, much more of the crater rim than we have so far, and then be able to return to a rendezvous site,\u201d Lee said. \u201cSo we did an estimate of the total mission drive duration to complete that mission, added margin for science exploration, added margin in case we need the rendezvous at a different site\u2026 and it just turned out to add up to a nice, even 100 kilometers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The time-lapse video embedded below shows the Perseverance rover\u2019s record-breaking 1,351-foot (412-meter) drive on June 19, 2025.<\/p>\n