NASA Will Soon Find Out If the Perseverance Rover Can Really Persevere On Mars (arstechnica.com)
(Thursday December 25, 2025 @05:00AM (BeauHD)
from the to-be-determined dept.)
- Reference: 0180452563
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/25/12/24/2116243/nasa-will-soon-find-out-if-the-perseverance-rover-can-really-persevere-on-mars
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/nasa-will-soon-find-out-if-the-perseverance-rover-can-really-persevere-on-mars/
With NASA's Mars Sample Return mission delayed into the 2030s, engineers are [1]certifying the Perseverance rover to keep operating for many more years while it continues collecting and safeguarding Martian rock samples. Ars Technica reports:
> The good news is that the robot, about the size of a small SUV, is in excellent health, according to Steve Lee, Perseverance's deputy project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). "Perseverance is approaching five years of exploration on Mars," Lee said in a press briefing Wednesday at the American Geophysical Union's annual fall meeting. "Perseverance is really in excellent shape. All the systems onboard are operational and performing very, very well. All the redundant systems onboard are available still, and the rover is capable of supporting this mission for many, many years to come."
>
> The rover's operators at JPL are counting on sustaining Perseverance's good health. The rover's six wheels have carried it a distance of about 25 miles, or 40 kilometers, since landing inside the 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer) Jezero Crater in February 2021. That is double the original certification for the rover's mobility system and farther than any vehicle has traveled on the surface of another world. Now, engineers are asking Perseverance to perform well beyond expectations. An evaluation of the rover's health concluded it can operate until at least 2031. The rover uses a radioactive plutonium power source, so it's not in danger of running out of electricity or fuel any time soon. The Curiosity rover, which uses a similar design, has surpassed 13 years of operations on Mars.
>
> There are two systems that are most likely to limit the rover's useful lifetime. One is the robotic arm, which is necessary to collect samples, and the other is the rover's six wheels and the drive train that powers them. "To make sure we can continue operations and continue driving for a long, long way, up to 100 kilometers (62 miles), we are doing some additional testing," Lee said. "We've successfully completed a rotary actuator life test that has now certified the rotary system to 100 kilometers for driving, and we have similar testing going on for the brakes. That is going well, and we should finish those early part of next year."
[1] https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/nasa-will-soon-find-out-if-the-perseverance-rover-can-really-persevere-on-mars/
> The good news is that the robot, about the size of a small SUV, is in excellent health, according to Steve Lee, Perseverance's deputy project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). "Perseverance is approaching five years of exploration on Mars," Lee said in a press briefing Wednesday at the American Geophysical Union's annual fall meeting. "Perseverance is really in excellent shape. All the systems onboard are operational and performing very, very well. All the redundant systems onboard are available still, and the rover is capable of supporting this mission for many, many years to come."
>
> The rover's operators at JPL are counting on sustaining Perseverance's good health. The rover's six wheels have carried it a distance of about 25 miles, or 40 kilometers, since landing inside the 28-mile-wide (45-kilometer) Jezero Crater in February 2021. That is double the original certification for the rover's mobility system and farther than any vehicle has traveled on the surface of another world. Now, engineers are asking Perseverance to perform well beyond expectations. An evaluation of the rover's health concluded it can operate until at least 2031. The rover uses a radioactive plutonium power source, so it's not in danger of running out of electricity or fuel any time soon. The Curiosity rover, which uses a similar design, has surpassed 13 years of operations on Mars.
>
> There are two systems that are most likely to limit the rover's useful lifetime. One is the robotic arm, which is necessary to collect samples, and the other is the rover's six wheels and the drive train that powers them. "To make sure we can continue operations and continue driving for a long, long way, up to 100 kilometers (62 miles), we are doing some additional testing," Lee said. "We've successfully completed a rotary actuator life test that has now certified the rotary system to 100 kilometers for driving, and we have similar testing going on for the brakes. That is going well, and we should finish those early part of next year."
[1] https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/nasa-will-soon-find-out-if-the-perseverance-rover-can-really-persevere-on-mars/
delayed? (Score:2)
by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )
Sad to hear that the sample return mission is delayed. Is it too divert funding to the moon?
The Chinese are scheduled to launch their sample return mission in 2028, to get back home in 2031. I think Russia announced one too, but nobody takes them seriously.
Arbitrary units of measurement suck rods and acres (Score:2)
"The good news is that the robot, about the size of a small SUV, ..."
That's great! Now I'd know what size a small SUV is if they'd just tell me the size of the robot.
Re: Arbitrary units of measurement suck rods and a (Score:3)
About 10 washing machines, or so?
Opportunity's dimensions are (H x W x L) 1.5 x 2.3 x 1.6 m
Re: (Score:2)
Related question: does the robot carry a baby in the back, and where are the soccer fields located on Mars?
Inquiring minds want to know!