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posted by CoolHand on Monday October 08 2018, @05:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the Open-the-pod-bay-doors-HAL dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Artificial intelligence in space exploration is gathering momentum. Over the coming years, new missions look likely to be turbo-charged by AI as we voyage to comets, moons, and planets and explore the possibilities of mining asteroids.

AI is already a game-changer that has made scientific research and exploration much more efficient. We are not just talking about a doubling but about a multiple of ten, Leopold Summerer, Head of the Advanced Concepts and Studies Office at ESA, said in an interview with Singularity Hub.

The history of AI and space exploration is older than many probably think. It has already played a significant role in research into our planet, the solar system, and the universe. As computer systems and software have developed, so have AI's potential use cases.

The Earth Observer 1 (EO-1) satellite is a good example. Since its launch in the early 2000s, its onboard AI systems helped optimize analysis of and response to natural occurrences, like floods and volcanic eruptions. In some cases, the AI was able to tell EO-1 to start capturing images before the ground crew were even aware that the occurrence had taken place.

Other satellite and astronomy examples abound. Sky Image Cataloging and Analysis Tool (SKICAT) has assisted with the classification of objects discovered during the second Palomar Sky Survey, classifying thousands more objects caught in low resolution than a human would be able to. Similar AI systems have helped astronomers to identify 56 new possible gravitational lenses that play a crucial role in connection with research into dark matter.

[...] As is often the case with exponential technologies, there is a great potential for synergies and convergence. For example with AI and robotics, or quantum computing and machine learning. Why not send an AI-driven robot to Mars and use it as a telepresence for scientists on Earth? It could be argued that we are already in the early stages of doing just that by using VR and AR systems that take data from the Mars rovers and create a virtual landscape scientists can walk around in and make decisions on what the rovers should explore next.

One of the biggest benefits of AI in space exploration may not have that much to do with its actual functions. Chew believes that within as little as ten years, we could see the first mining of asteroids in the Kuiper Belt with the help of AI.

I think one of the things that AI does to space exploration is that it opens up a whole range of new possible industries and services that have a more immediate effect on the lives of people on Earth, he said. "It becomes a relatable industry that has a real effect on people's daily lives. In a way, space exploration becomes part of people's mindset, and the border between our planet and the solar system becomes less important."


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  • (Score: 2) by Immerman on Monday October 08 2018, @11:56PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Monday October 08 2018, @11:56PM (#746214)

    There is other evidence *possible*, but like evidence for String Theory, even if the theory is valid is no guarantee that such evidence can actually exist - that part depends on optimistic assumptions about the boundary conditions being true. *IF* DM is normal matter within the still-not-ruled-out size ranges for MACHOs, or it's something exotic that nevertheless decays into, or otherwise interacts with, normal matter, AND does so at a rate high enough to be detectable, then yes, there *could be* other evidence. But so far as it's "known" properties are concerned, there's no particular reason to believe that any of that is true. It could easily be completely undetectable except via gravitational interaction, and so diffuse that we will be traveling the width of the galaxy before we've developed gravitational sensors capable of detecting density fluctuations within it.

    And yes, the failure of MOND is not a success for DM. But the fact that GR has perfectly predicted everything we've thrown at it on smaller scales *is* a success of GR, a phenomenal one. And the fact that the addition of DM can explain all the several different kinds of gravitational anomalies makes it a serviceable working theory. Unsatisfying, but until there's a viable competitor we work with what we've got. And no, the "competing" theories don't get much funding to research - but they also don't have any track record to justify more spending. As of yet none of them are even as accurate as the original theory dreamt up by a bored patent clerk with no funding at all.

    Also your translation sucks:
    Translated properly: AI systems have helped astronomers to identify 56 new possible gravitational lenses that play a crucial role in connection with research into gravitational anomalies

    Whether it's due to GR, MOND, or any of the many other alternative speculations, the lensing unquestionably exists, and the details of how it departs from the predictions will be helpful in developing a better theory.

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