As each country’s exploration of Mars and lunar projects such as ‘Artemis’ are in full swing, interest in ‘artificial intelligence (AI) technology in outer space’ is also increasing.
Viterbi Institute of Technology, Southern California (USC), USA, through an interview with Danny Olivas, a former NASA astronaut and currently a member of the NASA Advisory Board, through its website on the 3rd (local time), was explained the contents of the study.
Among them, climate analysis is a case in which AI technology is introduced into existing data analysis and is making rapid progress. “Since the climate analysis program began, NASA has generated more data than it has been analyzed,” said Olivas. The impacts can be predicted much more accurately.” This includes atmospheric ozone and CO2, global temperature changes, drought forecasts, sea level sensing, deforestation and population changes.
As space exploration progresses, AI becomes increasingly important. “There are some specific robotic applications that are very unique to NASA’s space program,” Olivas said. It will become increasingly important for mental health as it expands into a few years from now.”
AI is essential in robotics and rover fields. It takes regarding 20 minutes for a command from Earth to reach the unmanned rover on Mars. This is because it is a belated action to observe the rover moving on the cliff from the Earth and instruct it to stop moving. AI helps rovers make their own decisions.
But the most pressing problem is the space junk in orbit around the Earth. From tiny pieces of paint to debris the size of a bus, hundreds of thousands of space junk orbit the Earth at 16,000 miles per hour (25,750 km/h). It has already created cracks on the surface of the space station, and it might be catastrophic if it collided with a spacecraft.
Thus, AI might play a huge role in identifying fragments of debris and tracking their path in orbit.
Meanwhile, Olivas joined USC Viterbi Institute of Technology’s ‘VIMAL (Visual Intelligence and Multimedia Analysis Lab)’ for this research. USC Viterbi Institute of Technology has produced a number of astronauts, including Neil Armstrong, and is renowned for its space engineering research center.
Reporter Lim Sang-jun [email protected]
