NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover has some new responsibilities: choosing laser targets.
Yes, that's right. The rover can now autonomously "pulse zap" a target with its laser, which lets scientists back on Earth identify its chemical composition. NASA says this is the first time an instrument of this kind has autonomously selected its own targets on a planetary mission.
To complete this task, Curiosity uses AEGIS [Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science] software developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The software analyzes images snapped by the rover's Navigation Camera, or Navcam, and identifies rocks to target for additional study, based on their size or brightness, using criteria specified by scientists.
The rover is now selecting multiple targets per week for further laser and telescopic analysis with the space vehicle's ChemCam instrument. Scientists still select most ChemCam targets, but they say this new autonomous targeting feature is handy in certain situations.
"This autonomy is particularly useful at times when getting the science team in the loop is difficult or impossible — in the middle of a long drive, perhaps, or when the schedules of Earth, Mars, and spacecraft activities lead to delays in sharing information between the planets," robotics engineer Tara Estlin, who leads AEGIS development, said in a statement.
The software also helps scientists hone in on fine-scale targets, a feature that saves them a lot of time and effort. "For example, scientists might select a threadlike vein or a small concretion in a rock, based on images received on Earth," NASA explained. "AEGIS then controls the laser sharpshooting."
In the past, hitting these small targets was a painstaking task, requiring that the rover "stay in place while ground operators fine tune pointing parameters," Estlin said. Now, with the help of AEGIS, Curiosity can automatically hit them on the first try.
During Curiosity's nearly four years on the Red Planet, the ChemCam instrument has inspected more than 1,400 targets, enabling scientists to identify their chemical compositions.
The robot vehicle is studying whether Mars could have supported small life forms in the past, and if humans might one day be able to survive there.