Robotic Operations During Perseverance's First Extended Mission

The Mars 2020 Robotic Operations team is responsible for the development, planning and Mars execution of robotics aspects of the mission. This includes the Perseverance rover's mobility, manipulation, and sampling operations, and the Ingenuity helicopter's flights. The rover has driven 30 km and collected 28 samples as of sol 1266 (September 11, 2024). This paper presents the results from the mission after successfully establishing the Three Forks Sample Depot on January 28, 2023, where it deposited 10 of these samples on the surface of Mars. We discuss the climb onto the delta, the upper fan exploration, and exploration of the margin unit as the rover works its way toward the Jezero crater rim. We discuss the autonomy and wheel motor challenges encountered navigating the terrain and strategies for addressing them. We describe the successful rover flight software update to enable Global Localization to enable even longer drive distances and the operational challenges encountered during deployment. We discuss the energy savings from onboard planning to allow more time for driving and sampling. We present updates made to our contact science strategy that have resulted in reducing the number of sols needed to perform an abrasion, and updates to sampling during this extended mission. We discuss recalibrating the Robotic Arm during this period, which is a first for this mission. We also discuss analysis that was performed to ensure that the gas dust removal tool will have sufficient gas and the drill percuss mechanism has sufficient life for the extended life of the mission. Successfully driving through this challenging terrain has enabled the rover to reach a milestone in Mars planetary science exploration: “While previous rovers have driven in fluvial terrains, even small channels draining local relief, this is the first time we have visited the floor of a large Mars river”.