Perseverance Takes a Spin
After arriving at Jezero Crater on Mars,
Perseverance went for a spin
on March 4.
This sharp image
from the car-sized rover's Navcam shows tracks left
by its
wheels in the martian soil.
In preparation for operations on the surface of the Red Planet, its
first drive lasted about 33 minutes.
On a short and successful test drive
Perseverance moved
forward 4 meters,
made a 150 degree turn,
backed up for 2.5 meters,
and now occupies a different
parking space
at its newly christened
Octavia E. Butler Landing
location.
Though the total travel distance of the rover's first outing was about
6.5 meters (21 feet), regular commutes of 200 meters or more
can be expected in the future.