Who is Vandi Verma? India-born scientist behind first-ever AI-planned drive by a rover on Mars

A few years plunk for, NASA announced that it had carried out humankind's first AI-driven exploration of another planet, using the Perseverance rover on Mars, and behind the initiative was an Indian-origin scientist, Vandi Verma.

On 8 and 10 December, 2025, NASA's Perseverance rover, in a first, successfully completed drives on Mars using routes planned entirely by artificial intelligence without any human intervention.

The demonstration was carried out along the rim of the Jezero Crater on Mars and relied on a type of generative AI called vision-language model to analyze the Martian terrain and plot a route for Perseverance to complete the drive through safe waypoints.

“This demonstration shows how far our capabilities have advanced and broadens how we will explore other worlds,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, announcing the success.

“Autonomous technologies like this can help missions to operate more efficiently, respond to challenging terrain, and increase science return as distance from Earth grows. It’s a strong example of teams applying new technology carefully and responsibly in real operations,” he added,

The landmark moment in space exploration was the work of Rover Operations Center (ROC) under NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), of which India-born Vandi Verma is a part.

Born and partly brought up Punjab's Halwara, Vandana 'Vandi' Verma is the child of an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot, and one of the few people of the planet who is qualified to drive a vehicle on Mars.

Verma gained her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Punjab Engineering College in Chandigarh, before going on to pursue a master's degree in robotics from the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

For her doctoral studies, Verma stuck with robotics as well, completing her PhD from Carnegie Mellon as well in 2005, with a thesis titled Tractable Particle Filters for Robot Fault Diagnosis.

During her time at CMU, she developed an interest in robotics in unknown environments, and did internships with NASA's Ames Research Center.

Verma also got field-tested a rover that surveyed South America's Atacama Desert for signs of life, beginning her foray into robotics-driven exploration, and foreshadowing her current work at NASA.

Beyond the cutting-edge research she does for NASA, Verma is also a certified pilot.

The robotics researcher joined NASA's JPL in 2007, and by 2019, was leading JPL's Autonomous Systems, Mobility, and Robotic Systems group.

She had earlier worked on NASA's Curiosity rover, and is currently handling AI-driven exploration carried out by the Perseverance rover.

Commenting on the recent landmark achievement, Verma said, "The fundamental elements of generative AI are showing a lot of promise in streamlining the pillars of autonomous navigation for off-planet driving: perception [seeing the rocks and ripples], localization [knowing where we are], and planning and control [deciding and executing the safest path]."

"We are moving towards a day where generative AI and other smart tools will help our surface rovers handle kilometer-scale drives while minimizing operator workload, and flag interesting surface features for our science team by scouring huge volumes of rover images,” she added.

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