Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science
How Perseverance drove itself into the record books
Sponsors in this episode
No sponsor reads found in this episode's notes.
Host-read ads that the notes don't mention can't be found this way.
Show notes
NASA’s Perseverance rover has driven farther than any other vehicle on another world. On Oct. 11, 2026, its odometer reached 45.22 kilometers (28.10 miles), passing the record Opportunity spent about 15 years setting. Perseverance did it in about five and a half years. To celebrate, we’re revisiting previous Planetary Radio host Mat Kaplan’s 2021 conversation with Vandi Verma, chief engineer of robotic operations for Perseverance at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She explains AutoNav, the self-driving system that has carried the rover more than 90% of the way, and the careful work of collecting rock samples on Mars. Host Sarah Al-Ahmed catches us up on what’s happened since and marks 25 years of Mars Odyssey. Then stick around for a vintage What’s Up with Mat and Chief Scientist Bruce Betts.
Discover more at: https://www.planetary.org/planetary-radio/2026-perseverance-distance-record
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
From the show's RSS feed.