NASA equips Curiosity to fire laser on its own

For the first time, NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover can fire its onboard laser all by itself, mission scientists say. New software is enabling ChemCam, the laser spectrometer on Curiosity, to select rock targets autonomously – the first time autonomous target selection is available for an instrument of this kind on any robotic planetary mission. The ChemCam aboard Curiosity “zaps” rocks on Mars and analyses their chemical make-up. While most targets are selected by scientists, the rover itself now chooses multiple targets per week. To select a target, the software uses adjustable criteria specified by scientists