NASA's Perseverance rover has set a new record for the longest distance driven on the surface of another world, NPR and Space.com reported.

On Oct. 11, the rover's total reached 28.10 miles, or 45.22 kilometers, Space.com reported. That passed the record of 28.06 miles set by NASA's Opportunity rover.

Opportunity took about 14 years to cover that ground, Space.com reported. Perseverance has been on Mars for about five and a half years.

The record came on a drive of 299.6 feet, or 91.31 meters, on the mission's 2,006th Martian day, NASA said.

Much of the credit goes to the rover's self-driving system, NASA said. It lets Perseverance map hazards and plan its own path while it rolls. The rover has driven more than 90% of its total distance this way.

"There's very specific windows when it can drive, and it's moving pretty slowly. But still, for a Mars rover, 28 miles is a really big deal," project scientist Katie Stack Morgan told NPR.

The rover may go much farther, rover driver Mark Maimone told Space.com. He said it was built for about 20 kilometers of driving, but could reach up to 100 kilometers total.

Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater in February 2021, Space.com reported. Scientists think the crater may once have held a lake, NPR reported. The rover found a possible sign of ancient life in some rocks there, NPR reported.

A key goal was to collect rock samples that a later mission might bring to Earth, NPR reported. But that plan has an uncertain future because of its high cost.

"I certainly want those samples back, and I want them back as soon as possible," Stack Morgan told NPR.

NASA recently extended the mission through about the end of 2028, the agency said.

What we know: Perseverance passed Opportunity's 28.06-mile record on Oct. 11, 2026.
What we don't: How far the rover will go, and whether its samples will reach Earth.