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April 14 (UPI) -- NASA has upgraded the software package on the Mars Curiosity rover to help it move more efficiently and reduce wear on its wheels. The update, which required a pause in Curiosity's imaging operations between April 3 and April 7, includes more than 180 changes and represents its first major update since 2016.
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"This is a major software update and we had to make sure we did it right," Curiosity Project Manager Kathya Zamora-Garcia said.
Unlike the newer Perseverance rover, Curiosity needs to stop moving to process imagery it gathers. Engineers said the update would significantly upgrade Curiosity's performance by allowing it to do more "thinking while driving" by reducing the amount of time it needs to spend process those images so it can spend more time moving.
They added, however, it still won't move as efficiently as Perseverance.
"This won't let curiosity drive as quickly as Perseverance, but instead of stopping for a full minute after a drive segment, we're stopping for just a moment or two," said Curiosity Engineering Operations Team Chief Jonathan Denison.
The new update will also incorporate an algorithm that will calculate the best speed for Curiosity to roll over rough terrain with minimal damage to the rover's wheels, which have shown signs of wear after over a decade of use.
The improvements come after a report published in February in the journal Nature Communications suggested that NASA rovers on Mars may lack the equipment needed to detect life because the instruments carried aboard the rovers are often insufficient to detect organic molecules.
