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The Future of Artificial Intelligence in Space Exploration

Space exploration is one of the most complex and dangerous scientific endeavours that humans can undertake. And it tends to throw up the kinds of challenges that artificial intelligence (AI) excels at solving. From steering rockets into orbit to predicting the trajectories of celestial bodies, AI is proving an invaluable tool in helping scientists and astronauts navigate our final frontier.

The most obvious use of AI in space exploration is automating the tasks that can’t be done by humans. This includes navigating deep-space, analyzing planetary data, and sending data back to Earth. The technology is also being used to improve safety on board spacecraft and robots, for example ensuring that satellites don’t collide with each other. It’s also assisting researchers trying to clean up space junk, which currently amounts to an estimated 330 million pieces of debris.

For example, ESA’s Hera planetary defence mission will make use of the same kind of AI that powers self-driving cars to steer itself towards an asteroid using information from different sensors. The system will even take evasive actions when necessary, meaning that the crew of the Hera mission won’t have to be constantly monitoring the progress of the spacecraft. On Mars, intelligent data transmission software onboard rovers Understanding Cryptocurrency Wallets in 2023 removes human scheduling errors that can otherwise lead to valuable data being lost, allowing the robots to explore the red planet and gather more useful information than would be possible if they were solely reliant on commands from ground control.

In addition, the same kinds of AI algorithms that are taught to drive autonomous cars could eventually be used by spacecraft to identify nearby asteroids or detect signs of life on other planets. NASA has teamed up with companies like Google to use the power of AI to sift through massive amounts of data generated by its observatories in search for new planets. One such project, called Morpheus, is using machine learning to analyse images from the Webb telescope and help scientists map the earliest structures of the universe.

AI is also being used to optimize planetary tracking systems and enable smart data transmission. For instance, the cognitive radio system onboard the ISS uses AI to prioritise data paths and eliminate redundant data that could be transmitted over the same routes. It’s an approach that is being website technology explored in the upcoming 2024 mission of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which will come within 4 million miles of the Sun’s atmosphere and use its magnetometer to study the Sun’s corona.

Meanwhile, the AI system onboard Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 rocket enables it to fly itself, Forbes reported last year. This is a huge advancement that will allow the company to save money on launch costs and ultimately send more people into orbit. It’s a good thing too, as we need all the help we can get when it comes to reaching our eventual goal of colonizing the Moon and beyond. So, if you’re an astronaut dreaming of becoming a space pioneer in the future, we suggest you start brushing up on your AI skills.