NASA invites you to take a virtual spin in its Curiosity rover and label rocks

NASA is asking people to explore Mars using images taken of the Red Planet by its Curiosity Rover and help to label rocks and other surface features. The project, known as AI4Mars, is designed to improve an artificial intelligence algorithm that will help future Martian rovers move across the planet's surface. The simulation was designed by a team from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a way to help future rovers spot potential obstacles and avoid getting stuck. The projected is hosted on the citizen science site Zooniverse and involves volunteers labelling terrain features in thousands of pictures of the Red Planet. NASA hopes that having a more effective algorithm - similar to the ones used in self driving cars - will prevent future rovers suffering the same fate as Spirit which got stuck in a sand pit that ended its mission after seven years.