NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity will speed past the Red Planet’s surface thanks to a new upgrade.
A software update to the Curiosity rover, completed on April 7, brings about 180 improvements to the robot, most notably improved driving capabilities that will also reduce wear and tear on Curiosity’s wheels.
Curiosity, which has been exploring Gale Crater on Mars since August 2012, went into hibernation from April 3 to 7 for an upgrade. A software upgrade will help Curiosity in its mission to search for traces of extinct microbial life in this ancient dry Martian lake bed, NASA officials wrote.
“The flight software is critical to our mission, so this is a big deal for our team,” said Kathy Zamora-Garcia, project manager for Curiosity, based at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in southern California. notification. (opens in a new tab) “This is a major software update and we had to make sure we got it right.”
Related: NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity sees dazzling ‘sunbursts’ above the Red Planet
The biggest changes in the update are related to Curiosity’s mobility, and these improvements could help the robot continue to roll across the surface of Mars for many years to come, NASA says. the utility of messages sent to Earth.
Other changes simplify the code, which has been part of Curiosity since 2012, and which NASA says will improve the robot’s capabilities for many more years of Mars treks. (So far, the rover has received several software patches during its 11 years of Mars exploration.)
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Curiosity now “thinks on its feet” just like perseverance
Curiosity’s companion Mars rover, the car-sized Perseverance, landed on Mars in 2021 and can “think in motion.” This capability allows Perseverance to navigate rocks, sand traps, and other obstacles in its stomping ground, another dry Martian lake bed dubbed the Crater of Lakes.
Perseverance navigates by continuously taking images of the terrain ahead and then processing them with a dedicated computer that enables autonomous navigation during one continuous journey.
Curiosity cannot do this because, as an older rover, it lacks a dedicated on-board computer. Instead, Curiosity navigates by dividing its route into segments and stopping the processing of terrain images after each segment is completed. This process has to be started and stopped several times during a long journey.
Related: Mars Rover Curiosity to Receive a ‘Brain Transplant’
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While the new software update prevents Curiosity from launching into a smooth, continuous ride like Perseverance, it will help the older rover process terrain images faster.
“It won’t allow Curiosity to go as fast as Perseverance, but instead of stopping for a full minute after a segment of the ride, we’re only stopping for a moment or two,” said Jonathan Dennison, Curiosity’s engineering operations team leader. same statement.
“By spending less time idling between drive segments, we use less energy every day. And even though we’re almost 11 years old, we’re still implementing new ideas to make more use of the available energy for science activities.”
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As Curiosity’s wheels continue to spin
In 2013, after only a year of travel, Gale Crater operators noticed that Curiosity’s treads were breaking. They realized it was the result of the robot rolling over sharp rocks that chipped its treads.
The NASA team tried to mitigate this damage by implementing Curiosity’s algorithm. The software adjusts the rover’s speed when driving over certain rocks, improving traction and reducing wheel wear.
Related: Rugged Mars has taken big bites out of the Curiosity rover’s wheels (photo)
The 2023 update strengthens this protection by giving Curiosity two new mobility commands, reducing the amount of steering the rover has to do as it travels in an arc to a specific waypoint. Less steering means Curiosity gets to its target faster and reduces steering wear.
The inspiration for this improvement actually comes from the two Mars rovers that preceded Curiosity. “This ability was actually dreamed up in time Spirit and opportunity days,” Dennison said, referring to the twin NASA rovers that landed on the surface in 2004 and exceeded their 90 sols, or Martian days, by more than a decade. implement.”
The new software will not only benefit Curiosity itself, but will also streamline the work of its task force and human managers who must create plans for the robot that contain hundreds of commands.
The rover team will be able to more smoothly control Curiosity’s sample collection robot, as well as more precisely direct the rover’s “head” to the protruding mast.
The update will also make it easier to implement future software improvements. Overall, Dennison said the Curiosity team is relieved that this major software update to the rover is working as planned.
“The idea of hitting the install button was a little scary,” Dennison concluded. “Despite all our testing, we never know exactly what will happen until the software is available.”
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