Analysis:
NASA’s Perseverance Rover has been on Mars for two-plus years. In that time, it achieved many milestones, including coring its first rock sample and making oxygen on the red planet. For this three-sol drive, scientists needed to create and evaluate three times the number of drive path segments and associated terrain evaluations as it does for a normal drive. This was complicated even more by the fact that the team won’t know exactly where the rover would end its previous drive. To complete this drive without getting stuck, NASA had to greatly expand the rover’s “keep-out zones,” particularly for the third day when there would be the most amount of uncertainty in the rover’s location. This successful drive is yet another testament to NASA and its ability to develop autonomous navigation capabilities for Perseverance. – Brianna Wessling