This is the first photo snapped by Curiosity after she completed her first solo trip.
NASA/JPL Caltech
The rover Curiosity, our best friend on Mars, has always had the ability to pilot itself around its new home. But for its first year away from Earth, it's been piloted remotely by humans here on its birth planet. That just changed: this Tuesday, Curiosity officially drove itself for the very first time.
Curiosity has an autonomous navigation system that visually analyzes the terrain in front of it. Here's how it works, from NASA's press release:
The autonav was flipped on because the remote operators couldn't quite see the terrain directly in front of the rover; they knew they wanted Curiosity to go from point A to point B, but what lay in between was unclear. So Curiosity got to drive herself--NASA refers to Curiosity as a "she"--for the very first time.
Right now Curiosity is on its way to Mount Sharp, the highest peak within the Gale Crater, where Curiosity landed. The trip could take anywhere from nine months to a year, at which point Curiosity will do some scientific testing on the mountain.
You can read more about the trip over at NASA's site.
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