The Mighty Machine
Is searching out each sample's elemental composition in the ongoing search for ancient life.
NASA Is Hailing The Perseverance
Rover's improved ability to pick its own targets as a way of speeding up science on Mars.
Without Explicit Direction From Earth
The Perseverance rover zapped two rock targets with its SuperCam instrument on Sol 442 (May 18) to learn more about their elemental compositions.
Roger Wiens, Principal Investigator
"Normally, when the rover team picks the targets, the observations are not made until the following day,"
Roger Wiens Said
In A Statement, "If Perseverance picks its own targets, it can shoot them right after a drive.
Perseverance's Software For Target
Selection is called Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS), developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California