This is the longest drive Percy has made in a while (about 100 sols) and one of the longest of 2025, as we transition toward the next area of investigation. I anticipate another long drive in the next sol or two, as the current location is rather windswept and target-poor, and the nominal plan has Percy moving toward some new outcrops to the south.

The Vernodden slope we just departed (see the map above) was investigated extensively, but we only made one sampling attempt there, which was unsuccessful. The science team is being extremely selective with sampling operations now, given that we only have 8 sample tubes remaining, so any future sampling attempts will indicate a very high science value. The map below shows the nominal future path that the mission laid out about a year ago (which I’ve updated with some landmarks - current location marked with a cross):

The whole traverse from the rim summit to Vernodden - hardly a huge expanse - has taken 320 sols, so Percy has a long way to go before reaching Singing Canyon!