大象传媒

Nasa: Can you guide the Mars Curiosity rover to safety?

curiosity-rover.Image source, NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Image caption,

The Curiosity rover taking a selfie in 2019

Nasa is asking people to help teach Mars rovers how to stay safe on their travels.

The Curiosity rover has been exploring the surface of Mars since 2012, and has made some pretty cool discoveries - even taking the first selfie on Mars!

However after five years of rolling around, scientists noticed that Curiosity's wheels were showing signs of damage.

This is because it keeps bumping into and rolling over sharp rocks.

As well as this, the Spirit rover ended its mission in 2010 when it got stuck in sand.

Image source, NASA/JPL-Caltech
Image caption,

Scientists are asking people to draw around potential hazards to help rovers to learn how to spot them

As a result of this, Nasa is asking people to take part in something called the "AI4Mars" challenge.

Using this online tool, people can draw on pictures taken by the Curiosity rover, to help train rovers to learn how to spot potentially dangerous or rocky ground.

More than 8,000 pictures taken by Curiosity have been uploaded to the site so far, and they hope to upload more from other rovers like Opportunity and Spirit soon.

This knowledge would then be used in future Mars missions, like the planned Perseverance rover, to help keep them safe on their travels around the red planet.