13 years into its mission, NASA’s Curiosity rover continues to be uncovering Martian mysteries — and studying to do extra with much less.
Since touchdown in Gale Crater in 2012, Curiosity has traveled greater than 22 miles (35 kilometers), finding out rock layers, analyzing soil and revealing Mars’ historic previous, together with indicators that the planet as soon as harbored liquid water, a thicker ambiance and circumstances which may have supported microbial life. And regardless of the toll of time, together with worn wheels and mechanical glitches, engineers have stored the rover rolling with inventive workarounds, distant fixes and adaptive driving methods.
Now, due to current software program upgrades, the rover has gained new autonomy that permits it to multitask and put itself to sleep early when it finishes its every day duties, NASA mentioned in a assertion. This new capability helps preserve vitality from its growing older nuclear energy supply and lengthen its scientific lifespan, the assertion learn.
“We have been extra like cautious mother and father earlier within the mission,” mentioned Reidar Larsen, a flight methods engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, who led the staff behind the brand new capabilities. “It is as if our teenage rover is maturing, and we’re trusting it to tackle extra accountability.”
Curiosity, which is the dimensions of a small SUV, is powered by a multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG), which converts warmth from the pure decay of plutonium into electrical energy to recharge the rover’s batteries. However because the plutonium decays, the system steadily produces much less vitality, which means it takes longer to recharge the batteries and leaves much less energy for science every day.
To profit from the diminishing vitality provide, engineers have been working to spice up the rover’s effectivity by combining beforehand standalone duties like driving, taking images and transmitting knowledge, in response to the NASA assertion.
By consolidating these actions, engineers have been in a position to shorten every day’s operational plan, decreasing the period of time heaters and devices want to remain powered on, saving invaluable vitality within the course of, the assertion learn.
And as a substitute of idling whereas ready for brand spanking new instructions, Curiosity can now put itself to sleep as quickly because it finishes the day’s work. These small changes — even trimming simply 10 or 20 minutes per day — can add up over time and assist protect energy and lengthen the rover’s mission, the company wrote within the assertion.
These new energy-saving habits come because the rover has noticed an attention-grabbing rock formation that resembles a chunk of coral. Captured on July 24, 2025, the rock, nicknamed “Paposo,” is about two inches (5 centimeters) broad and was photographed utilizing a digicam perched on the finish of the rover’s robotic arm, in response to the assertion.
Paposo doubtless fashioned billions of years in the past throughout a time when Mars was a lot wetter than it’s right this moment, the assertion says. Mineral-rich water doubtless seeped into cracks within the rock, abandoning hardened deposits. Over time, highly effective winds would have sculpted the uncovered materials into the fragile, branching form seen by the rover.
Curiosity is at the moment exploring a area wealthy in so-called “boxwork formations,” a community of ridges that doubtless fashioned underground via historic water exercise. These options crisscross the decrease slopes of Mount Sharp, the three-mile-high (five-kilometer-high) mountain above the ground of Gale Crater that the rover has been ascending for years.
All in all, Curiosity stays in good well being, NASA says, bolstered by sensible engineering, up to date algorithms, and now, somewhat extra relaxation.
“Collectively, these measures are doing their job to maintain Curiosity as busy as ever,” the company’s assertion says
