NASA has initiated groundbreaking tests that let artificial intelligence plan and execute driving routes for its Perseverance Mars rover, marking a significant milestone in autonomous planetary exploration. Traditionally, engineers on Earth have spent hours analysing terrain and programming waypoints for the rover to follow, a process constrained by the long communication delay—up to about 24 minutes one-way—between Earth and Mars. During a recent demonstration, AI was tasked with setting waypoints and identifying hazards like sand and rocks over a 48-hour period, enabling more rapid and adaptive movement across the Martian surface.
This test represents the first step toward more self-sufficient robotic explorers on other worlds. By giving the AI control over navigation decisions, NASA engineers aim to overcome the limitations imposed by distance and signal lag, which make real-time remote control impossible. Reports note that although the rover’s progress under AI guidance was modest—comparable to a “determined garden snail”—it was faster than manual planning would have allowed. There are even plans to extend such autonomy to AI-controlled drone swarms on Mars in the future.
Parallel developments show Perseverance has already completed the first drives planned entirely by generative AI, using advanced vision-capable models to analyse orbital imagery and terrain data, identify hazards, and generate safe paths—tasks historically performed by human planners on Earth. In those recent demonstration drives, the rover travelled hundreds of metres autonomously based on AI-generated waypoints, indicating that such systems could significantly expand the reach and efficiency of Mars missions.
The integration of AI into Mars rover operations could transform future space exploration by enabling robots to make more complex decisions independently, reducing the need for detailed human oversight and accelerating science return. As autonomous technologies mature, NASA’s use of AI for navigation opens possibilities for longer traverses, real-time responsiveness to terrain challenges, and more ambitious missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
