Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory deployed Claude Code to plan waypoints for the car-sized rover, which has explored Mars since February 2021. The AI analyzed overhead imagery and wrote commands in Rover Markup Language, the specialized programming language used for Mars missions.
The challenge stems from communication delays. Signals take roughly 20 minutes to reach Mars from Earth, preventing real-time rover control. Until now, human operators exclusively planned these routes to avoid hazards such as sand traps and unstable terrain,critical after the Spirit rover became permanently stuck in 2009.
Claude plotted the route in ten-meter segments, then refined its waypoints through self-critique. JPL engineers ran the AI-generated plan through simulations modeling over 500,000 variables to verify rover positions and identify potential hazards. Review revealed only minor adjustments were needed, primarily regarding sand ripple navigation based on ground-level camera data unavailable to the AI.
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The rover successfully completed both planned routes. JPL estimates the AI assistance will reduce route-planning time by half while improving consistency. This efficiency allows more frequent drives and expanded data collection.
The test represents initial steps toward broader autonomous capabilities for space missions. NASA's Artemis program aims to establish a lunar base, where similar AI systems could assist with tasks from geological mapping to life-support monitoring. Future deep-space missions to locations like Europa or Titan could benefit from AI capable of autonomous decision-making during communication delays stretching to hours.
Perseverance's primary mission involves characterizing Martian geology and climate while collecting rock and regolith samples. The rover landed in Jezero crater, a 45-kilometer-wide formation that contained water billions of years ago, potentially supporting microbial life. The rover has discovered preliminary evidence of possible ancient biological activity on Mars.
The test represents initial steps toward broader autonomous capabilities for space missions. NASA's Artemis program aims to establish a lunar base, where similar AI systems could assist with tasks from geological mapping to life-support monitoring. Future deep-space missions to locations like Europa or Titan could benefit from AI capable of autonomous decision-making during communication delays stretching to hours.
Perseverance's primary mission involves characterizing Martian geology and climate while collecting rock and regolith samples. The rover landed in Jezero crater, a 45-kilometer-wide formation that contained water billions of years ago, potentially supporting microbial life. The rover has discovered preliminary evidence of possible ancient biological activity on Mars.
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