Hasta La Gadget!

If it’s too expensive to fly humans to Mars, maybe we can train robots to make human-like decisions.

So goes the thinking at NASA, which has upgraded its Mars Rover Opportunity’s control software, so that the rover can let it make its own decisions about which rocks to focus on.

NASA’s new AEGIS (Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science) system lets the rover check out images taken with its wide-angle navigation camera, search for rocks that “meet specific criteria,” and then flick on its narrower-angle panoramic camera to snap photos of the rock.

So far, Opportunity has chosen a football-sized layered rock from a nearby impact crater, following NASA’s criteria of “large and dark.” Currently, the rover is en route to Endeavor, a large crater about 13.7 miles across. It has drive over 12 miles during the past six years. (Image credit: NASA)