AUSTIN (KXAN) — For more than a decade, the Curiosity rover has explored the surface of Mars. In just a few days, it will go dark as NASA loses contact with the Martian explorer. From Dec. 27 to Jan.

For the first time, a Mars rover has crossed alien ground following a route drawn up not by human engineers, but by artificial intelligence. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover recently completed a set of ...