The first self-driving vehicle on Mars has proven to be a smashing success

And that’s good, because there is a lot of work to do. In Jezero Crater, the rover is studying some of the most ancient rocks in the Solar System, older than any on Earth, dating as far back as about 4 billion years ago. At the time, the planet was in the later stages of the “heavy bombardment” era when rocks were still whizzing around the inner planets in great numbers. But things were starting to settle down.

“It’s the first time we’ve been able to investigate this terrain in situ, and that’s been very exciting,” Sun said.

During this era, large lakes and possibly even oceans are thought to have existed on Mars. Perseverance is exploring this ancient terrain to better understand what geological and environmental conditions might have existed at the time, and just how conducive the planet might have been to life. Scientists believe the planet might have looked something like the Mojave Desert on Earth, with water flowing through it, but the debate rages on. With Perseverance, there is a lot of data to base it upon.

Driving on, and on, and on

Curiosity is still going strong on Mars after nearly 15 years, and Perseverance operators say the newer rover is doing great as well. After a few years on Mars, Curiosity operators noted significant wear and tear on the vehicle’s wheels. So for Perseverance, the wheels were redesigned, and there are no signs of appreciable wear and tear, Lee said.

The only minor concern at this point is the actuators in the wheels. They were initially life-tested for 20 km of driving, but NASA is in the midst of certifying them to at least 100 km, and possibly longer. Perseverance operates on RTG power and has no propellants, consumables, or lubricants on board.

For this reason, Lee said, the vehicle could keep driving itself across Mars for many years to come.