{"id":315661,"date":"2026-03-06T08:02:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T08:02:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/315661\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T08:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T08:02:07","slug":"this-massive-tech-upgrade-lets-the-mars-rover-drive-anywhere-it-wants-and-the-science-is-absolutely-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/315661\/","title":{"rendered":"This massive tech upgrade lets the Mars rover drive anywhere it wants and the science is absolutely wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover has just been given a smart new tech upgrade that\u2019ll help it explore even more of Mars<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Perseverance rover blasted off into space<\/a> in July 2020 and landed on the Red Planet the following February.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since then, it\u2019s been exploring Mars alongside the Curiosity rover<\/a>, which has been there since 2012.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, NASA has proved that you can teach an old rover new tricks, with an exciting upgrade known as Mars Global Localization.<\/p>\n

Click the star icon next to supercarblondie.com in Google Search<\/a> to stay ahead of the curve on the latest and greatest supercars, hypercars, and ground-breaking technology<\/p>\n

NASA has introduced a smart new technology to the Perseverance rover<\/p>\n

On Earth, millions of us rely on GPS and satellite navigation<\/a> systems to find our way around.<\/p>\n

But, as you might expect, such technology doesn\u2019t exist on Mars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NASA\u2019s<\/a>NASA<\/p>\n

So, when the Perseverance rover was out roving along the Red Planet, it required human operators back here on Earth to tell it precisely where it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perseverance had been relying on \u2018visual odometry\u2019, which meant it analyzed geographic features in camera images taken every few feet, but this method wasn\u2019t super accurate and could be off by more than 100 feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In some cases, this meant that Perseverance thought it was traveling too close to hazardous terrain and would ground to halt prematurely and then wait around for further instructions from Earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, that\u2019s now changed thanks to some exciting new technology developed at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.<\/p>\n

The tech, which has been dubbed Mars Global Localization, is a little like a Martian GPS.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The clever system uses an algorithm that is able to rapidly compare panoramic images from Perseverance\u2019s navigation cameras with its onboard orbital terrain maps.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mars Global Localization is able to pinpoint the rover\u2019s location within a couple of minutes and is accurate to around 10 inches.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NASA\u2019s<\/a>SB Media\/ChatGPT<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is kind of like giving the rover GPS. Now it can determine its own location on Mars,\u201d JPL\u2019s chief engineer of robotics operations for the mission, Vandi Verma, said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means the rover will be able to drive for much longer distances autonomously, so we\u2019ll explore more of the planet and get more science.\u201d<\/p>\n

The smart new tech could be introduced to other rovers <\/p>\n

NASA first began working on the Mars Global Localization system in 2023, spending months testing the accuracy of the algorithm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After years of research, testing, and development, the Mars Global Localization system has been effectively used on two regular mission operations \u2013 the first on February 2, then again on February 16.<\/p>\n

\"NASA\u2019s<\/a>NASA<\/p>\n

With the system up and running, NASA has said it could be used on other rovers in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could be used by almost any other rover traveling fast and far,\u201d Verma added.<\/p>\n

And not just on Mars, but also on the Moon, which is great timing as NASA has announced ambitious plans to send humans<\/a> back to the lunar surface for the first time in decades.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDISCOVER SBX CARS:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t# Tags –
\nMars<\/a>, NASA<\/a>, Tech<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Perseverance rover has just been given a smart new tech upgrade that\u2019ll help it explore even more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-315661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}