A Mars rover is tested on choosing rock targets without waiting for Earth

A ground test checks whether a Mars rover can pick the rock boundary a geologist needs by itself, instead of waiting for the next instructions from Earth.

A geologist wants to study where two kinds of rock meet on Mars. Today the rover waits for instructions from Earth before it chooses a target. In this film, engineers test a rover on the Mars test track at JPL by comparing the targets it chooses with the ones the geologist would choose, using a set of difficult examples that can be reused.

With the right tools and a specialist available, the next comparison takes five days instead of six weeks, and 90 engineering hours instead of 220. Rovers scouting the lunar south pole before crews arrive would need the same ability.

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