Mars rovers

What we know so far

• On 11 October 2026, Perseverance's total driving distance reached 45.22 kilometers (28.10 miles), passing the 45.16 kilometers Opportunity logged over 15 years and setting the record for distance driven on another world.^[2][14]
• As of 8 October 2026, Curiosity had driven 38.07 kilometers.^[1]
• As of October 2026, Curiosity and Perseverance were still operating.^[1][10]
• In October 2026, Perseverance began its first mission extension, approved by NASA, which carries its exploration of the Jezero crater rim through roughly the end of 2028.^[14]
• As of October 2026, Perseverance had collected more than two dozen geologically diverse rock samples in its first five years on Mars.^[9]
• On 26 August 2026, Curiosity reached 1 kilometer of elevation gain on its climb from the floor of Gale Crater up Mount Sharp, the high point so far of its 14-year mission.^[3]
• In January 2026, Congress's fiscal 2026 appropriations closed the office of NASA's existing Mars Sample Return program and funded a new $110 million Mars Future Missions project; The Planetary Society said NASA had no plan for returning the samples Perseverance collected.^[8][13]
• On 10 September 2025, NASA said a Perseverance sample contained potential biosignatures, though the minerals could also form without biological processes.^[11]

Operational rovers

Curiosity and Perseverance^[1][10]

Perseverance distance driven

45.22 kilometers (28.10 miles), a record for any vehicle on another world^[2][14]

Curiosity distance driven

38.07 kilometers^[1]

Opportunity distance driven

45.16 kilometers^[4][12]

Perseverance samples

More than two dozen geologically diverse rock samples^[9]

Mars Sample Return

Existing NASA program office closed by fiscal 2026 appropriations^[13]

Sojourner

Sojourner, the rover of NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission, landed on Mars on 4 July 1997 and lost contact on 27 September 1997.^[5] The 10.6-kilogram rover carried instruments for scientific observations and technology demonstrations.^[5] It traveled just over 100 meters before communications ended.^[1] Observations from Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner suggested that ancient Mars had been warm and wet.^[5] Rounded pebbles and cobbles seen by Pathfinder, for example, suggested that they had formed in running water during a warmer period.^[5] NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed the rover.^[1]

Spirit and Opportunity

Spirit landed at Gusev Crater in January 2004 and completed its mission in 2010.^[4] It covered 7.7 kilometers before becoming stuck in sand, and its final communication came on 22 March 2010.^[1][4] NASA ended recovery attempts on 25 May 2011.^[1] Spirit's rock record showed that stable liquid water had persisted on the surface of ancient Mars.^[4]

Opportunity landed in Meridiani Planum on 24 January 2004.^[12] Although it was designed for 90 Martian days, it operated for more than 15 years and drove 45.16 kilometers.^[4][12] It last communicated with Earth on 10 June 2018, during a planet-wide dust storm, and NASA declared the mission complete on 13 February 2019 after recovery attempts failed.^[4][12] Opportunity found evidence that liquid water had existed on ancient Mars, and its findings indicated that Meridiani Planum may have been habitable during part of Mars's history.^[12] Over the mission it returned more than 217,000 images, exposed the surfaces of 52 rocks and brushed 72 more targets.^[12]

0:14 Opportunity's hole-in-one NASA JPL, February 2019: the Opportunity team recalls landing in Eagle crater and the round grains that showed water had once flowed on Mars.

Curiosity

Curiosity launched on 26 November 2011 and landed in Gale Crater on 6 August 2012.^[10] NASA's goal for it was to determine whether Mars had ever supported microbial life.^[10] The rover carries ten scientific instruments, including cameras, a laser and a rock drill.^[10] As of 29 September 2026, it had drilled and collected 42 powdered rock samples, and its chemical and mineral findings showed that Mars once had habitable environments.^[10] By 8 October 2026, Curiosity had driven 38.07 kilometers.^[1] On 26 August 2026, climbing Mount Sharp, it reached a one-kilometer elevation gain.^[3] It was still operating in October 2026.^[1][10]

Perseverance and Ingenuity

Perseverance launched on 30 July 2020 and landed in Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021.^[9] NASA sent it to search for ancient microbial life and to collect rock and regolith samples for possible return to Earth.^[9] The rover found evidence that Jezero Crater once held a stable lake, a delta and a river system.^[9] By October 2026, it had collected more than two dozen geologically diverse rock samples in its first five years on Mars.^[9]

0:11 Perseverance lands on Mars NASA's video of Perseverance's own landing in Jezero Crater, 18 February 2021: parachute, sky crane, touchdown and the first view of the ground.

On 11 October 2026, Perseverance passed Opportunity's off-world driving record.^[2] That sol's drive covered 91.31 meters and brought the rover's total to 45.22 kilometers.^[2][14] It was heading toward an area called Idubi, in a region off the western rim of Jezero Crater nicknamed Lac de Charmes, where the science team hoped to find traces of ancient hydrothermal systems.^[14] Perseverance was still operating in October 2026.^[1]

On 10 September 2025, NASA reported that the Sapphire Canyon sample collected by Perseverance contained potential biosignatures that needed further study before any conclusion about life could be reached.^[11] Spots in the Cheyava Falls rock carried signatures of the minerals vivianite and greigite.^[11] NASA said these minerals could also form without biological processes; for the Bright Angel formation, it judged nonbiological explanations less likely but could not rule them out.^[11] By 10 September 2025, Perseverance had collected 27 rock cores.^[11]

0:02 Potential biosignatures AP, 10 September 2025: NASA on the Perseverance sample it called the closest it had come to signs of ancient life, while saying it is not the final answer.

Ingenuity, a helicopter rather than a rover, traveled to Mars beneath Perseverance.^[6][9] NASA announced the end of its mission on 25 January 2024, after its final flight damaged a rotor blade and left it unable to fly.^[6] Over its mission it completed 72 flights, logged more than two hours of flight time, operated from 48 airfields and made three emergency landings.^[6]

Zhurong

Zhurong landed in southern Utopia Planitia on 14 May 2021 and began driving on 22 May 2021.^[1][7] It was China's first rover to operate on Mars and the first non-American rover to operate there successfully.^[1] The China National Space Administration (CNSA) managed the rover.^[1] By 5 May 2022, Zhurong had traveled 1,921 meters.^[1][7]

0:41 Zhurong drives onto Mars The Guardian, June 2021: China's footage of Zhurong rolling down its lander's ramp onto Utopia Planitia on 22 May 2021.

With a sandstorm and the Martian winter approaching, Zhurong entered hibernation in May 2022.^[1][7] Sources disagree on the date: one gives 20 May 2022, another 18 May 2022.^[1][7] A 2023 report said dust on its solar panels had kept enough energy from reaching the rover for it to restart.^[7] CNSA scientists had received no signal from Zhurong by January 2023, and the rover had not changed position between September 2022 and 21 February 2023.^[7] In April 2023, mission designer Zhang Rongqiao said Zhurong's dust accumulation had exceeded expectations and the rover might remain permanently inactive.^[1][7]

Sample return and future rovers

Perseverance's samples remained on Mars after Congress's fiscal 2026 appropriations legislation closed the office of NASA's existing Mars Sample Return program, The Planetary Society reported.^[13] The society described the appropriations as ending the program in its existing form, while SpaceNews described a major NASA mission as canceled.^[8][13] The same legislation funded a new Mars Future Missions project to develop technologies for robotic and, eventually, crewed Mars missions.^[13]

Timeline

1. 4 July 1997 Sojourner landed on Mars and began operating as part of Mars Pathfinder.^[5]
2. January 2004 NASA states that Spirit landed at Gusev Crater, and Opportunity landed in Meridiani Planum on 24 January 2004.^[4][12]
3. 6 August 2012 Curiosity landed in Gale Crater.^[10]
4. 13 February 2019 NASA declared Opportunity's mission complete after unsuccessful recovery attempts.^[1][12]
5. 18 February 2021 Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater.^[9]
6. 14 May 2021 Zhurong landed in southern Utopia Planitia and became the first Chinese rover to operate on Mars.^[1][7]
7. 25 January 2024 NASA announced the end of Ingenuity's mission after its final flight damaged a rotor blade.^[6]
8. 10 September 2025 NASA reported potential biosignatures in Perseverance's Sapphire Canyon sample while stating that nonbiological explanations remained possible.^[11]
9. 8 October 2026 Curiosity had driven 38.07 kilometers.^[1]
10. 11 October 2026 According to NASA, Perseverance passed Opportunity's off-world driving record.^[2]
11. 2026-10 NASA's mission page said Perseverance had collected more than two dozen geologically diverse rock samples during its first five years on Mars.^[9]