The robotic and crewed rovers that have driven farthest across the Moon and Mars, ranked by total odometry in kilometers.
Opportunity (NASA, Mars) holds the record for the farthest distance driven on another world, at 45.16 km. Perseverance is second at 45.13 km and still driving, and the Soviet Lunokhod 2 is third at about 39 km on the Moon. The ranking uses total distance driven in kilometers, from NASA mission waypoint data and final published odometry, as of October 2026.
Only a handful of wheeled vehicles have ever driven on another world, and their odometers tell the story of planetary exploration: Soviet Lunokhods in the 1970s, NASA's Apollo lunar rovers, and the long-lived Mars rovers that kept driving years past their warranties. This list ranks every rover by total distance driven. Two of them, Curiosity and Perseverance, are still active on Mars, and Perseverance is now within a few dozen meters of Opportunity's all-time record.
Designed to drive about 1 km over a 90-sol mission, Opportunity kept roving for nearly 15 years and finished with 45.16 km on its odometer before a 2018 dust storm ended the mission. It still holds the off-world driving record.
Perseverance had logged 45.13 km by sol 1980 in Jezero Crater, just 30 meters short of Opportunity's record. It is still driving, so it is likely to take first place soon.
The Soviet Union's second remote-controlled moon rover drove about 39 km in under five months in 1973, a record that stood for 41 years. A later reanalysis of NASA orbiter images suggests the true figure is closer to 42 km.
Curiosity has driven 38.07 km since landing in Gale Crater in 2012, much of it climbing the slopes of Mount Sharp. It has now been driving on Mars for more than 14 years.
Astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt drove the last lunar rover 35.9 km across the Taurus-Littrow valley in December 1972. That is the longest distance any crewed vehicle has driven on another world.
The first crewed rover, driven by David Scott and James Irwin near Hadley Rille, covered 27.8 km in July-August 1971.
John Young and Charles Duke drove 26.7 km across the Descartes Highlands in April 1972, the only Apollo landing in the lunar highlands.
The first rover to operate on another world landed in Mare Imbrium in November 1970 and drove 10.5 km over eleven lunar days. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed it in its final parking spot in 2010.
Opportunity's twin drove 7.73 km in Gusev Crater, the last stretch with a jammed wheel, before it became stuck in soft soil in 2009. Its final transmission was in 2010.
China's first Mars rover drove more than 1.9 km in Utopia Planitia after landing in May 2021. It went into hibernation in May 2022 and has not woken since.
| # | Name | Distance | Body | Operator | Years active | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Opportunity (NASA, Mars) | 45.16 km | Mars | NASA | 2004-2018 | Mission ended |
| 2 | Perseverance (NASA, Mars) | 45.13 km | Mars | NASA | 2021-present | Active |
| 3 | Lunokhod 2 (USSR, Moon) | 39 km | Moon | USSR | 1973 | Mission ended |
| 4 | Curiosity (NASA, Mars) | 38.07 km | Mars | NASA | 2012-present | Active |
| 5 | Apollo 17 Lunar Roving Vehicle (NASA, Moon) | 35.9 km | Moon | NASA | 1972 | Mission ended |
| 6 | Apollo 15 Lunar Roving Vehicle (NASA, Moon) | 27.8 km | Moon | NASA | 1971 | Mission ended |
| 7 | Apollo 16 Lunar Roving Vehicle (NASA, Moon) | 26.7 km | Moon | NASA | 1972 | Mission ended |
| 8 | Lunokhod 1 (USSR, Moon) | 10.5 km | Moon | USSR | 1970-1971 | Mission ended |
| 9 | Spirit (NASA, Mars) | 7.73 km | Mars | NASA | 2004-2010 | Mission ended |
| 10 | Zhurong (CNSA, Mars) | 1.9+ km | Mars | CNSA (China) | 2021-2022 | Dormant |
Rovers are ranked by total distance driven on the surface of another world, in kilometers. Active rovers (Curiosity, Perseverance) use NASA's current mission waypoint data as of October 2026 (Perseverance at sol 1980, Curiosity at sol 5021); completed missions use the final odometry published by NASA, NASA's NSSDCA, the LROC team or the China National Space Administration. Lunokhod 2 uses the 39 km figure NASA cited in 2014; a later Russian reanalysis of LRO imagery puts it near 42 km, which would not change its rank. Crewed Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicles are included because they drove on the lunar surface. Zhurong uses CNSA's 'more than 1.9 km' figure from May 2022. Yutu-2 (about 1.6 km as of 2024-2025 estimates) falls just outside the top 10.
NASA's Opportunity holds the record with 45.16 km on Mars. Perseverance had driven 45.13 km as of sol 1980 and is still active, so it is on track to pass Opportunity.
No. The official figure for Lunokhod 2 is about 39 km, and even a Russian reanalysis of orbiter images that raised it to about 42 km leaves it short of Opportunity's final 45.16 km.
They are wheeled vehicles that drove on the surface of another world. Unlike the robotic rovers, astronauts drove them, which is how they covered nearly 36 km in three days on Apollo 17.
Yutu-2 is on the far side of the Moon and has driven about 1.6 km since 2019, which puts it just behind Zhurong and outside the top 10.
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