While previous rovers also had self-driving software, Perseverance’s advantage is that it can make decisions while its wheels are still moving. Older models, like the Curiosity Rover, had to stop whenever they had to make a decision, resulting in them covering much smaller daily distances. The scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have dubbed this the “thinking while driving capability.”
Perseverance’s top speed is a whopping 0.1 miles per hour, and it can cover upwards of 300 yards per day, according to NASA. Perseverance is currently heading to the Jezero River Basin, a bone-dry region that NASA believes once featured rushing waters. Along the way it will be searching for evidence of past microbial life as well as collecting soil and rock samples that future Mars missions will retrieve for further analysis. Since Perseverance can travel more quickly than other probes, it will also allow scientists more opportunity to conduct experiments and collect samples.