Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
A robot car called Perseverance is exploring the planet Mars. NASA sent it there.
Perseverance has now driven 26.2 miles. That is the same distance as a marathon race.
It took Perseverance five years and four months to drive that far.
An older Mars robot called Opportunity took more than eleven years to drive the same distance. Perseverance is much faster.
- rover
- A vehicle used to explore the surface of a planet or moon
- marathon
- A running race that is 26.2 miles long
- explore
- To travel through a place to learn more about it
- distance
- The amount of space between two points
- predecessor
- Something that came before another thing of the same kind
- surface
- The outside or top layer of something
- orbiter
- A spacecraft that circles around a planet
- milestone
- An important point or event in progress toward a goal
Level 2 — Elementary
NASA's Perseverance rover has reached a remarkable milestone on Mars, completing the equivalent of a full marathon by driving 26.2 miles, or 42.2 kilometers, across the Red Planet's surface.
The rover reached this distance after five years and four months of driving, on the 1,890th Martian day, or sol, since it landed inside Jezero Crater.
That pace far outpaces NASA's previous record holder, the Opportunity rover, which needed eleven years and two months to travel the same distance.
A striking image captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera shows Perseverance as a tiny green speck against the Martian landscape, taken one day before the rover officially crossed the marathon mark.
- remarkable
- Worthy of attention; extraordinary
- equivalent
- Equal in value, amount, or meaning to something else
- kilometer
- A unit of distance equal to 1,000 meters
- sol
- A Martian day, slightly longer than an Earth day
- outpace
- To move or progress faster than something else
- striking (image)
- Very noticeable or impressive in appearance
- landscape
- The visible features of an area of land
- crater
- A large bowl-shaped hollow, often caused by an impact
Level 3 — Intermediate
NASA's Perseverance rover has reached a notable operational milestone on Mars, completing the equivalent of a marathon by covering 26.2 miles, or 42.195 kilometers, of terrain within and beyond Jezero Crater since its landing.
The rover crossed the mark after five years and four months of driving, on the mission's 1,890th sol, a pace that dramatically outstrips the previous record holder, Opportunity, which required eleven years and two months to accumulate the same distance.
At the time the milestone was reached, Perseverance was operating in a region west of Jezero Crater nicknamed 'Arbot' by the mission's science team, continuing its search for evidence of ancient microbial life in the crater's former river delta.
A striking overhead photograph captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera on June 13, one day before the milestone was officially reached, shows the rover as a tiny green speck accompanied by faint tracks etched into the Martian regolith.
- operational milestone
- A significant achievement reached during the ongoing operation of a mission or system
- terrain
- The physical features of an area of land
- accumulate
- To gradually gather or build up over time
- river delta
- A landform where a river deposits sediment as it enters a larger body of water
- microbial life
- Living organisms too small to see without a microscope, such as bacteria
- overhead (photograph)
- Taken from directly above a location
- regolith
- The layer of loose rock, dust, and soil covering solid bedrock
- etched (into)
- Marked or cut into a surface, leaving a visible trace
Level 4 — Advanced
NASA's Perseverance rover has reached a notable operational milestone on Mars, having traversed the equivalent of a marathon, 26.2 miles or 42.195 kilometers, across the terrain in and around Jezero Crater since its landing in February 2021.
The rover crossed the threshold on the mission's 1,890th sol, after five years and four months of driving, a cadence that dramatically outstrips the pace set by its predecessor, Opportunity, which required eleven years and two months to accumulate the same distance during its own extended tenure on the Martian surface.
At the moment the milestone was reached, Perseverance was operating in a region west of Jezero Crater informally designated 'Arbot' by the mission's science team, continuing its methodical search for geochemical evidence of ancient microbial habitability within the crater's fossilized river delta.
A striking overhead photograph acquired by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE instrument on June 13, one sol before the milestone was formally logged, renders the rover as a diminutive green speck trailed by faint wheel tracks incised into the surrounding regolith, a visual testament to years of methodical, incremental traverse.
- traverse (verb)
- To travel across or through an area
- cadence
- A rhythm or pace at which something proceeds
- tenure
- The period during which something, such as a mission, is active
- geochemical
- Relating to the chemical composition and processes of rocks and minerals
- habitability
- The quality of being suitable for life to exist
- diminutive
- Extremely small in size
- incised
- Cut into a surface, leaving a mark or groove
- incremental
- Occurring in small, gradual steps or stages
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