NASA’s Perseverance rover has been exploring the surface of Mars since its spectacular landing nearly five years ago.
In that time, NASA’s most advanced rover yet, which is about the size of a small car, has traveled nearly 25 miles (40 kilometers) while conducting scientific research and collecting soil samples for return to Earth.
In a new video (above) released on Wednesday, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which oversees the space agency’s Mars missions, shared footage captured by Perseverance’s two navigation cameras (Navcams) as it completed a 1,350.7-foot (411.7-meter) journey in 4 hours, 24 minutes on June 19, 2025 – a new record for the distance traveled in was traveled in a single sol (a Martian sol is a Martian solar). day and lasts approximately 24 hours and 39 minutes).
The video was created by stitching together 300 pairs of images from the rover’s navigation cameras, with one pair of shots taken every 16 feet (5 meters) for the first third of the journey and one pair of shots every 3.3 feet (1 meter) for the remainder of the journey. Virtual frames were inserted approximately every 4 inches (0.1 meters).
Since the rover has a top speed of just under 0.1 miles per hour, the final bit was sped up to create something that gives the feeling of a drone flying just above the ground.
The rover tracks seen in the video are from Perseverance’s two previous southbound trips, which took place in May 2025.
The 1,350.7-foot (411.7-meter) ride beats the previous record of 718.5 feet (219 meters) set by NASA’s Opportunity rover back in 2005.
The footage is evidence of the rover’s continued ability to cope with the harsh conditions on Mars, which include rugged terrain and freezing temperatures.
Interestingly, JPL has continued to test the rover’s various parts on Earth to confirm their longevity and learn more about how long they are expected to last. The team is confident that Perseverance can continue rolling until at least 2031, barring any major glitches of course.
“These tests show that the rover is in excellent condition,” JPL’s Steve Lee, Perseverance’s deputy project manager, said on NASA’s website. “All systems are fully capable of supporting a very long-term mission to comprehensively explore this fascinating region of Mars.”
