NASA/JPL First AI-Planned Mars Rover Drive Using Claude
Narrative
Claude planned 456-meter route for Perseverance rover across Jezero Crater rim on Dec 8 and 10, 2025. First AI-planned drives on another planet. Claude Code analyzed HiRISE orbital imagery and digital elevation models, wrote commands in Rover Markup Language, identified hazards across 500,000+ telemetry variables.
Reality
Announced January 31, 2026. Drives executed December 8 (210m) and December 10 (246m), 2025. Engineers estimate AI-assisted planning cuts route-planning time in half. Only minor manual adjustments needed. Collaboration between JPL Rover Operations Center and Anthropic. Implications for future Artemis Moon missions and deep space exploration where communication delays are longer.
Implication
Landmark demonstration of generative AI in space exploration. Claude went from failing to beat Pokemon Red (spring 2025) to piloting a rover on Mars in under a year. Validates AI for autonomous navigation in environments where human oversight has multi-minute latency. Opens path for AI-assisted exploration of Europa, Titan, and beyond.