Stranded Curiosity Rover Gets More Free Will: What Could Go Wrong?

<p><a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/overview/index.html" target="_blank">NASA&#39;s Curiosity Mars rover</a>&nbsp;is becoming more autonomous, and if there&#39;s one thing science fiction has taught us, it&#39;s giving robots free will is always a good idea. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARJ8cAGm6JE&ab_channel=KlingonSpider" target="_blank">Wink, wink</a>.)</p><p>Curiosity now runs a software package called&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/jrnls/scirobotics/pages/2017-06/francis-06-21-17.php" target="_blank">Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science</a>, which helps it figure out what information to send back to Earth.</p><p><a href="http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2012/08/05/time-delay-between-mars-and-earth/" target="_blank">Interplanetary communication</a>&nbsp;is slow. Curiosity&#39;s scientists say they hope they can cut down mission times by letting the rover decide on its own which discoveries are most important to send our way.</p><p><b>SEE MORE: <a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/humans-treat-spacecraft-like-other-humans/">Why Do We Treat Our Spacecraft Like They're Humans?</a></b></p><p>The rover has been partially autonomous since 2013, when scientists equipped it with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2013-259" target="_blank">autonomous navigation</a>. It helps Curiosity determine the safest routes to drive on the Martian terrain.</p><p>But the rover has yet to become completely autonomous &mdash; much to Curiosity&#39;s dismay. Scientists back on Earth still tell the robot what to look for, like rocks and soil, as well as its ultimate destination. That&#39;s probably for the best.</p><hr><b>Trending stories at <a href="http://www.newsy.com">Newsy.com</a></b><ul class="inline-related-links"><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/ancient-dna-gives-clues-on-how-cats-became-domesticated/">How Did Cats Become Domesticated? Ancient DNA Gives Us Some Clues</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/nasa-engineer-uses-seismic-data-to-find-missing-rockets/">A NASA Engineer Has A Creative New Way To Find Missing Rockets</a></li><li><a href="http://www.newsy.com/stories/river-dams-could-harm-amazon-rainforest-climate/">South America&#039;s Hydropower Plans Could Damage The Amazon Rainforest</a></li></ul>