<p>The Mars rover Perseverance has successfully conducted its first test drive on the Red Planet, the US space agency NASA said Friday.</p>.<p>The six-wheeled rover travelled about 6.5 metres (21.3 feet) in 33 minutes on Thursday, NASA said.</p>.<p>It drove four metres forward, turned in place 150 degrees to the left, and then backed up 2.5 metres, leaving tire tracks in the Martian dust.</p>.<p>"This was our first chance to 'kick the tires' and take Perseverance out for a spin," said Anais Zarifian, Perseverance mobility test bed engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.</p>.<p>Zarifian said the test drive went "incredibly well" and represented a "huge milestone for the mission and the mobility team."</p>.<p>"We're going to do some longer drives," she added. "This is just the beginning."</p>.<p>NASA engineers said they were studying possible routes for longer rover voyages on the surface of Mars.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/perseverance-rover-sends-film-of-descent-first-audio-from-mars-954282.html" target="_blank">Perseverance rover sends film of descent, first audio from Mars</a></strong></p>.<p>Perseverance deputy mission manager Robert Hogg said engineers were also preparing for the first flight of a helicopter drone carried by the rover.</p>.<p>Hogg said the rover team was working out flight zones and hoped to conduct the first flight in late spring or early summer.</p>.<p>He said the mission had not experienced any major problems so far.</p>.<p>"It's all just minor stuff," he said. "Everything we've tried has worked beautifully."</p>.<p>Perseverance was launched on July 30, 2020 and landed on the surface of Mars on February 18 on a mission to search for signs of past life on the Red Planet.</p>.<p>The rover's prime mission will last just over two years but it is likely to remain operational well beyond that.</p>.<p>Its predecessor Curiosity is still functioning eight years after landing on Mars.</p>.<p>Over the coming years, Perseverance will attempt to collect 30 rock and soil samples in sealed tubes to be sent back to Earth sometime in the 2030s for analysis.</p>.<p>About the size of an SUV, the craft weighs a ton, is equipped with a seven-foot-long robotic arm, has 19 cameras, two microphones and a suite of cutting-edge instruments.</p>.<p>The rover is only the fifth to set its wheels down on Mars, all of them American. The feat was first accomplished in 1997.</p>.<p>The United States is preparing for an eventual human mission to the planet, though planning remains very preliminary.</p>
<p>The Mars rover Perseverance has successfully conducted its first test drive on the Red Planet, the US space agency NASA said Friday.</p>.<p>The six-wheeled rover travelled about 6.5 metres (21.3 feet) in 33 minutes on Thursday, NASA said.</p>.<p>It drove four metres forward, turned in place 150 degrees to the left, and then backed up 2.5 metres, leaving tire tracks in the Martian dust.</p>.<p>"This was our first chance to 'kick the tires' and take Perseverance out for a spin," said Anais Zarifian, Perseverance mobility test bed engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.</p>.<p>Zarifian said the test drive went "incredibly well" and represented a "huge milestone for the mission and the mobility team."</p>.<p>"We're going to do some longer drives," she added. "This is just the beginning."</p>.<p>NASA engineers said they were studying possible routes for longer rover voyages on the surface of Mars.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/perseverance-rover-sends-film-of-descent-first-audio-from-mars-954282.html" target="_blank">Perseverance rover sends film of descent, first audio from Mars</a></strong></p>.<p>Perseverance deputy mission manager Robert Hogg said engineers were also preparing for the first flight of a helicopter drone carried by the rover.</p>.<p>Hogg said the rover team was working out flight zones and hoped to conduct the first flight in late spring or early summer.</p>.<p>He said the mission had not experienced any major problems so far.</p>.<p>"It's all just minor stuff," he said. "Everything we've tried has worked beautifully."</p>.<p>Perseverance was launched on July 30, 2020 and landed on the surface of Mars on February 18 on a mission to search for signs of past life on the Red Planet.</p>.<p>The rover's prime mission will last just over two years but it is likely to remain operational well beyond that.</p>.<p>Its predecessor Curiosity is still functioning eight years after landing on Mars.</p>.<p>Over the coming years, Perseverance will attempt to collect 30 rock and soil samples in sealed tubes to be sent back to Earth sometime in the 2030s for analysis.</p>.<p>About the size of an SUV, the craft weighs a ton, is equipped with a seven-foot-long robotic arm, has 19 cameras, two microphones and a suite of cutting-edge instruments.</p>.<p>The rover is only the fifth to set its wheels down on Mars, all of them American. The feat was first accomplished in 1997.</p>.<p>The United States is preparing for an eventual human mission to the planet, though planning remains very preliminary.</p>