Mission update
AX-1 Ares completes 41 km unsupervised traverse
July 09, 2026
Between 12 and 30 June, AX-1 Ares drove 41.2 kilometres across the Salar de Punta Negra without receiving a single route command. Operators supplied science goals once per day; every navigation decision was taken onboard.
On sol 11 a drive unit lost a bearing. Nexus isolated the unit, re-planned the gait and continued at 78% of nominal speed. The traverse finished on schedule.
The campaign closes the last open item before environmental qualification, which begins in October.
