Role in Scientific Discovery

AI/ML improves technology operations and scientific observations by enabling spacecraft to instantly analyze countless data points.

 

Benefit to JPL Mission

Incorporating AI/ML in spacecraft design and data analysis alleviates demands for data storage and processing and enables missions to uncertain environments by making spacecraft adaptive to new challenges.

 

Challenges

Complex system designs are outpacing analysis methods for engineering, science, and operations. JPL science missions continue to collect larger volumes of data and more diverse data types. Missions to distant and complex environments can have prohibitively long communication delays, requiring adaptive systems.

 

Solutions

• Data-Driven Learning: unsupervised learning, knowledge distillation
• Model-Based Reasoning: model-driven observation, hypothesis generation and testing, reasoning across models

 

Read more about this topic in JPL's 2019 Strategic Technologies document.