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Mars rover to undergo 'brain transplant'
Saturday August 11, 2012 10:41:31 PM,
IANS
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Los Angeles: Mars
rover Curiosity will undergo a "brain transplant" over the weekend
with a software upgrade to prepare for new tasks ahead, NASA has
said.
The upgrade will take place as part of a series of steps to
prepare the rover for its future tasks such as driving and using
its strong robotic arm, Xinhua reported Friday.
A new version of software will be installed in the rover's
redundant main computers, according to Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), California.
"We designed the mission from the start to be able to upgrade the
software as needed for different phases of the mission," said Ben
Cichy, chief software engineer for JPL.
"It gives us basic capabilities for operating the rover on the
surface, but we have planned all along to switch over after
landing to a version of flight software that is really optimized
for surface operations," Cichy explained.
Image processing to check for obstacles is the key for the new
software, which allows for longer drives by giving the rover more
autonomy to identify and avoid potential hazards and drive along a
safe path the rover identifies for itself, according to JPL.
Other new capabilities will facilitate the use of tools at the end
of the rover's robotic arm.
While Curiosity is completing the software transition, the
mission's science team is continuing to analyze images the rover
has taken of its surroundings in Gale Crater.
Curiosity will also use a drill and scoop to gather soil and
powdered samples of rock interiors to study if there were any
signs of life on the planet.
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