Robotic Operations During Perseverance’s First Extended Mission

The Mars 2020 Robotic Operations team is responsiblefor the development, planning and Mars execution ofrobotics aspects of the mission. This includes the Perseverancerover’s mobility, manipulation, and sampling operations,and the Ingenuity helicopter’s flights. The rover has driven30 km and collected 28 samples as of sol 1266 (September11, 2024). This paper presents the results from the missionafter successfully establishing the Three Forks Sample Depoton January 28, 2023, where it deposited 10 of these sampleson the surface of Mars. We discuss the climb onto the delta,the upper fan exploration, and exploration of the margin unitas the rover works its way toward the Jezero crater rim. Wediscuss the autonomy and wheel motor challenges encounterednavigating the terrain and strategies for addressing them. Wedescribe the successful rover flight software update to enableGlobal Localization to enable even longer drive distances andthe operational challenges encountered during deployment. Wediscuss the energy savings from onboard planning to allow moretime for driving and sampling. We present updates made toour contact science strategy that have resulted in reducing thenumber of sols needed to perform an abrasion, and updatesto sampling during this extended mission. We discuss recalibratingthe RA during this period, which is a first for thismission. We also discuss analysis that was performed to ensurethat the gas dust removal tool will have sufficient gas and thedrill percuss mechanism has sufficient life for the extended lifeof the mission. Successfully driving through this challengingterrain has enabled the rover to reach a milestone in Marsplanetary science exploration: “While previous rovers havedriven in fluvial terrains, even small channels draining localrelief, this is the first time we have visited the floor of a largeMars river”.