Mars orbiter watches Perseverance rover cross the marathon finish line | Space photo of the day for June 29, 2026

NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted Perseverance rover as it completed driving the distance of a marathon (26.2 miles or 42 kilometers) on the Red Planet. (Image credit: Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona) A spacecraft orbiting Mars watched as its "friend," the Perseverance rover, finished its first marathon on the Martian surface. There weren't any medals handed out, and there wasn't any competition, but we're proud either way. What is it? On June 14, 2026, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover completed the equivalent of a marathon, having driven 26.2 miles (42.2 kilometers). After landing in the ancient lakebed Jezero Crater in 2021, the rover has been hard at work exploring, sampling, and collecting information to help scientists put the pieces of Mars' history together. NASA's Opportunity rover also managed to reach a marathon distance on Mars, though it took over 11 years to make it that far. Perseverance managed to make it to this marathon milestone in just 5 years and 4 months, and the rover is still going strong. But Perseverance isn't making history alone; it has the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) watching from orbit. …