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)