Mars is so far away it can take as long as 24 minutes to send a signal from earth to mars. So Curiosity can't just go to a spot, send pictures to NASA, and wait for instructions.
NASA designed AEGIS, an artificial intelligence software, to help make Curiosity work more efficiently. AEGIS works with an instrument on Curiosity called ChemCam, short for chemistry and camera.
The ChemCam emits lasers at rock and soil, and then uses the light coming from the impact to analyze and detect the geothermal composition of the vaporized material. AEGIS has increased the accuracy of the laser by 40 percent.
AEGIS can select a target rock and pinpoint it with ChemCam, before scientists on Earth have time to look at the images.
This is how AEGIS sees mars with ChemCam:
NASA designed AEGIS, an artificial intelligence software, to help make Curiosity work more efficiently. AEGIS works with an instrument on Curiosity called ChemCam, short for chemistry and camera.
The ChemCam emits lasers at rock and soil, and then uses the light coming from the impact to analyze and detect the geothermal composition of the vaporized material. AEGIS has increased the accuracy of the laser by 40 percent.
AEGIS can select a target rock and pinpoint it with ChemCam, before scientists on Earth have time to look at the images.
This is how AEGIS sees mars with ChemCam: