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Perseverance rover drives 45.22km on Mars, setting new off-world record

NASA's Perseverance rover has surpassed the previous record for distance driven on another planet.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
One of Perseverance's navigation cameras captured this image on Oct. 11, 2026, the day it officially set a new record for the longest distance driven on another planet. NASA/JPL-Caltech

What this story says

  • NASA's Perseverance rover has driven 45.22 kilometers (28.1 miles) on Mars, setting a new record for the farthest distance traveled by a vehicle on another planet.
  • This distance surpasses the previous record held by NASA's Opportunity rover.
  • The Perseverance mission has been extended to explore the Jezero Crater rim until the end of 2028.
  • The rover's autonomous navigation system, AutoNav, enables it to plan its own routes.

Who covered it

Left 32%(14)Centre 47%(21)Right 21%(9)

Percentages are shares of the 44 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 34 of the 78 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

60/100

Craft

60/100

Hype

20/100

78 sources · methodology

NASA's Perseverance rover has set a new record for the farthest distance driven on the surface of another planet. The rover has traveled 45.22 kilometers (28.1 miles) on Mars. This distance surpasses the previous record set by NASA's Opportunity rover. The Perseverance mission has been extended to explore the Jezero Crater rim until the end of 2028.

Distance records

NASA's Perseverance rover has driven 45.22 kilometers (28.1 miles) on Mars, surpassing the previous record set by NASA's Opportunity rover. Cumhuriyet reported that Opportunity's record was 45.16 kilometers, which Perseverance completed in five and a half years, compared to Opportunity's approximately 15 years. CBS News stated that Opportunity drove 28.06 miles during its 15-year exploration from 2004 to 2018. The Hindu Business Line and Emirates24|7 reported the distance as 45.2 km, while Space, The Express Tribune, and autoevolution reported 28.1 miles. SANA and ZN.UA Зеркало недели reported 45.22 km and 45.16 km respectively for Opportunity's record.

What the coverage left out

None of the left-rated digests mention the specific distance Perseverance was initially expected to drive, a detail included in the full report from CBS News. None of the right-rated digests mention the rover's autonomous navigation system, AutoNav, or the specific distance Perseverance was initially expected to drive.

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 3 times, most recently on 13 Oct 2026, 15:30, and will add the sides that appear.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Perseverance rover drives 45.22km on Mars, setting new off-world record
CumhuriyetLeft

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

14 rated outlets

  • Left-rated reports led on NASA's Perseverance rover setting a new driving record on Mars. They highlighted that the rover covered 45.22 km on Mars, surpassing Opportunity's record. Multiple reports noted that over 90% of Perseverance's route was traveled autonomously. The extension of the Perseverance mission until the end of 2028 was also mentioned.

Centre

21 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated reports focused on NASA's Perseverance rover breaking the record for the farthest distance driven on a world beyond Earth. They stated the rover had traveled 45.22 kilometers (28.1 miles) on Mars, surpassing Opportunity's record. Several reports mentioned that advances in autonomous driving technology facilitated this travel. The extension of the mission to explore the Jezero Crater rim until the end of 2028 was also noted.

Right

9 rated outlets

  • Right-rated reports highlighted that NASA's Perseverance rover set an extraterrestrial driving record on Mars. They stated the rover surpassed Opportunity's record while exploring ancient terrain and searching for signs of past life. The distance covered was reported as 45.2 km by The Hindu Business Line and 28.1 miles (45.2km) by Emirates24|7.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Perseverance rover drives 45.22km on Mars, setting new off-world record?
Of the 44 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 32% are rated left, 47% are rated centre, 21% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 78. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Perseverance rover drives 45.22km on Mars, setting new off-world record left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 44 rated outlets on this story, 32% are rated left, 47% are rated centre, 21% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Perseverance rover drives 45.22km on Mars, setting new off-world record biased?
Perseverance rover drives 45.22km on Mars, setting new off-world record is one event reported by 78 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which outlets covered Perseverance rover drives 45.22km on Mars, setting new off-world record?
78 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What is the new distance record set by the Perseverance rover?
NASA's Perseverance rover has set a new record for the farthest distance driven on the surface of another planet, traveling 45.22 kilometers (28.1 miles) on Mars. This surpasses the previous record held by the Opportunity rover.
How long has the Perseverance mission been extended?
The Perseverance mission has been extended to continue exploring the Jezero Crater rim until the end of 2028. This extension allows for further scientific investigation of the Martian surface.
What technology allows the Perseverance rover to cover so much ground?
The rover's autonomous navigation system, known as AutoNav, allows it to plan its own routes and navigate hazards independently. This capability, described as 'thinking while driving,' enables it to travel at higher speeds.

Read it at the source

78 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

14
Show 6 more

Centre

21
Show 13 more

Right

9
Show 1 more

Not rated

34
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Perseverance Rover Sets Record | MediaBias News