It then backed up an additional 2.5 metres.
The process of searching for life - which involves careful management by hundreds of world leading scientists - could take until the 2030s.
Perseverance will spend at least two years drilling into rocks in a mission which has to be handled with utmost care.
Anais Zarifian, one of Perseverance rover’s mobility engineers, said: “When it comes to wheeled vehicles on other planets, there are few first-time events that measure up in significance to that of the first drive.
NASA rover takes first drive on Mars (Image: Getty Images)
NASA celebrates rover touch-down on Mars (Image: Getty Images)