Mars Marathon
On July 14, 2026, NASA’s Perseverance rover drove its 42,195th meteron Mars — completing a full marathon’s distance 5 years after landing in Jezero Crater. Only Opportunity (2015, 11 years) has done it before.
Odometer
0.000
km driven
Sol
0
0.0% complete
Sim speed
Mission Milestones
Touchdown0.000 kmFeb 18, 2021Sol 0
First Drive1.060 kmMar 4, 2021Sol 13
Ingenuity #15.000 kmApr 19, 2021Sol 58
Jezero Delta10.600 kmApr 2022Sol 400
Half-Marathon21.098 kmJun 2024Sol 1200
Marathon! 🏆42.195 kmJul 14, 2026Sol 1941
Next: First Drive in 1.060 km
How Far Is 42.195 km?
🗽
Length of Manhattan
21.1 km
2.0× longer
🗼
Paris city width (E–W)
18.2 km
2.3× longer
🏎️
Monaco GP circuit
3.34 km
12.6× longer
🏰
Disney World perimeter
19.3 km
2.2× longer
🏃
Running a half marathon
21.098 km
2.0× longer
🌉
Golden Gate Bridge (12×)
3.47 km
12.2× longer
Mission Timeline
Deep Dive
🏁
5 Years, 146 Days
Perseverance landed February 18, 2021 and completed a marathon on July 14, 2026. A human runner covers the same distance in ~4 hours. The rover averaged just 200 m per sol (Martian day) of net forward progress, pausing constantly for science.
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Top Speed: 0.15 km/h
Perseverance's hardware ceiling is 4.2 cm/s (~0.15 km/h). In practice it halts every few meters so its AutoNav system can scan for obstacles — real average speed is roughly half of that theoretical maximum.
🎯
Driven From Earth Each Sol
Every drive is planned by JPL engineers and uplinked once per Martian day. With radio delays of 3–22 minutes each way, real-time control is impossible; the rover must autonomously execute a pre-planned command sequence.
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42 km of Science Stops
The marathon traverse crossed Jezero crater floor (ancient basalts), the ancient river delta (layered sediments), and the crater rim — each region yielding core samples drilled for eventual return to Earth via Mars Sample Return.
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Second in the Mars Marathon Club
Opportunity set the first Mars marathon record in 2015, taking 11 years 2 months. Perseverance's 5-year 5-month run is far faster — not because it drove quicker, but because it spent less time traversing dead terrain between science targets.