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Break out your machine learning model training skills for fame and glory.
The 2022 EXPLORE Lunar Data Challenge is focused on the Archytas Dome region, close to the Apollo 17 landing site where the last humans set foot on the Moon 50 years ago this December.
The Machine Learning Lunar Data Challenge is open to students, researchers and professionals in areas related to planetary sciences, but also to anyone with expertise in data processing. There is also a Public Lunar Data Challenge to plot the safe traverse of a lunar rover across the surface of the Moon, open to anyone who wants to ‘have a go’, as well as a Classroom Lunar Data Challenge for schools, with hands-on activities about lunar exploration and machine learning.
In a press conference at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022 to announce the EXPLORE Machine Learning Lunar Data Challenge, Giacomo Nodjoumi said: “The Challenge uses data from the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission of the Archytas Dome. This area of the Moon is packed craters of different ages, boulders, mounds, and a long, sinuous depression, or rille. The wide variety of features in this zone makes it a very interesting area for exploration and the perfect scenario for this data challenge.”
The Machine Learning Data Challenge is in three steps: firstly, participants should train and test a model capable of recognising craters and boulders on the lunar surface. Secondly, they should use their model to label craters and boulders in a set of images of the Archytas zone. Finally, they should use the outputs of their models to create a map of an optimal traverse across the lunar surface to visit defined sites of scientific interest and avoid hazards, such as heavily cratered zones.
The public and schools are also invited to use lunar images to identify features and plot a journey for a rover. Prizes for the challenges include vouchers totalling 1500 Euros, as well as pieces of real Moon rock from lunar meteorites.
The deadline for entries closes on 21 November 2022 and winners will be announced in mid-December, on the anniversaries of the Apollo 17 mission milestones.
The 2022 EXPLORE Data Challenges can be found at: https://exploredatachallenges.space
(Score: 3, Touché) by hubie on Saturday October 08 2022, @06:13PM
One plus that could come out of it is that it gets more people involved and messing around with data. One potential downside is that a lot of submissions might come from people who all watched the same YouTube video that walks you through training a model. :)