NASA will soon find out if the Perseverance rover can really persevere on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover has traveled 40 kilometers across Mars since 2021—double its original certification and farther than any vehicle has driven on another world. Engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are now certifying the six-wheeled robot to operate up to 100 kilometers, roughly the width of Lake Michigan, as the rover prepares for an extended mission that could last until at least 2031. The ambitious distance requirement stems from NASA's uncertain Mars Sample Return program, originally planned for the late 2020s but now stalled due to an $11 billion price tag and political uncertainty.

"Perseverance is really in excellent shape. All the systems onboard are operational and performing very, very well," said Steve Lee, the rover's deputy project manager. The robot has collected 33 titanium sample tubes filled with Martian rocks and sediments from ancient lake deposits in Jezero Crater, including specimens that may contain chemical signatures of ancient microbial life. While China prepares its own Mars sample return mission for 2028, Perseverance continues its geological treasure hunt along the crater rim, filling tubes with the expectation they'll eventually return to Earth—even if that journey takes longer than originally planned.