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NASA’s Perseverance rover sets record for farthest driving on another planet

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, mostly left-leaning (67%).

3 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

NASA’s Perseverance rover has driven farther on the surface of another planet than any vehicle before it, according to NASA and outlets reporting its statement. The rover’s odometer reached about 28.1 miles on Mars, surpassing the 28.06 miles driven by the Opportunity rover from 2004 to 2018. Coverage attributes much of the pace to the rover’s self-driving navigation, which images terrain while moving and builds a three-dimensional map of hazards. Perseverance has been exploring Jezero Crater since landing in February 2021, and the milestone came while it was driving toward an area called Idubi near the crater’s western rim. The figures differ slightly by source: 28.1 miles as of Sunday in one report and 28.10 miles as of October 11 in another.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. NASA’s Perseverance rover has driven about 28.1 miles on Mars, the farthest any vehicle has driven on another planet’s surface.

    Reported byLeft2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    The New York Times, CBS News
    Far Right
    The Epoch Times

  2. The distance surpasses the 28.06 miles driven by NASA’s Opportunity rover during its 2004 to 2018 mission.

    Reported byLeft1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Left
    CBS News
    Far Right
    The Epoch Times

  3. NASA said the rover’s self-driving navigation system, which maps hazards while moving, contributed much of the distance covered.

    One outletThe Epoch Times· Far Right

  4. The record was reached while Perseverance was driving toward an area called Idubi near the western rim of Jezero Crater.

    One outletThe Epoch Times· Far Right

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets report that Perseverance has set a record for the farthest distance driven on another planet’s surface, surpassing Opportunity. The left-side outlets state the milestone plainly, while the right-side outlet adds the self-driving navigation, the pace of travel, and the mission’s search for ancient life.

  • the left

    2 outlets

    Headlines state the record as a plain milestone, with the New York Times tying it to self-driving technology and CBS stating the distance and comparison to Opportunity.

    Mars rover sets new driving record on surface of another world
    CBS NewsLeftAll left-leaning headlines

  • the center

    No coverage yet

    No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • the right

    1 outlet

    The Epoch Times headline presents the record as a total distance driven off-world and its excerpt frames it within the search for ancient microbial life.

    NASA’s Mars Rover Breaks Record for Total Distance Driven Off-World
    The Epoch TimesFar RightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

Mantle found no loaded language in this coverage. Every headline and opening was checked against Mantle’s published word list, and Mantle’s AI read all 3 articles in context. Straight reporting often has none.

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

2 outlets

Leads with

  • the record distance
  • comparison with the Opportunity rover
  • advances in self-driving technology

Leaves out

  • the rover’s daily distance and the Idubi destination

Reported by other sides, not found in this side’s coverage.

See the 2 headlines from the leftHide the headlines

From the center

0 outlets

No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

From the right

1 outlet

Leads with

  • the record distance and odometer figure
  • the search for ancient microbial life
  • the rover’s five-and-a-half-year pace
See the headline from the rightHide the headlines

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    First to report

    The New York Times, Oct 12, 9:20 PM EDT

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    20 hr 59 min later

    Its first report, Oct 13, 6:19 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. The New York TimesLeftOct 12, 9:20 PM EDT
  2. CBS NewsLeftOct 13, 9:02 AM EDT
  3. The Epoch TimesFar RightOct 13, 6:19 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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