Nasa’s Opportunity Mars exploration rover is now capable of deciding upon additional observations of rocks spotted on arrival at a new location.
New autonomous exploration for gathering increased science (AEGIS) software has been remotely uploaded on to the rover, testing advances made in robotic autonomy for future missions.
Opportunity can now examine images taken with its wide-angle navigation camera, recognise rocks meeting specified criteria and take further images with its narrower-angle panoramic camera through colour filters.
The rover, now in its seventh year on Mars, has covered 20km and was originally designed for a three-month mission with a driving-distance goal of 600m.
AEGIS will be useful for narrower field-of-view instruments on future rovers.
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By GlobalData
