AI In Space: Astronauts Are Likely To Need Help

Who could really use some artificial intelligence companionship?

It’s easy to think about a million use cases for LLMs down here on earth, but some recent research suggests that AI may be uniquely valuable in space, too.

After all, astronauts are in an unfamiliar environment. They’re like fish out of water, and It’s also pretty isolated up in the endless expanse of deep space.

So scientists are working on some technologies to help astronauts in various ways, as they explore what’s beyond the confines of the earth’s atmosphere.

The Context

You may or may not know that an initial Artemis launch in 2022 was supposed to pave the way for a manned mission to the moon this year.

However, that’s been pushed back quite a bit, with a landing now planned for mid-2027. Presumably, we’ll be headed to Mars within the next decade. So Alex Karim El Adl and researchers at the MIT Media Lab are working on a brain computer interface (BCI) that astronauts can use to communicate more easily while they’re away from their terrestrial homes.

Addressing Challenges

“We can’t go into space alone,” El Adl said in a recent presentation, showing how astronauts will be confined to small habitats. He gave some reasons for that, including exposure to radiation and other atmospheric issues. He also suggested that astronauts will be able to benefit from AI systems that support their cognitive state. These systems, he said, might be built and maintained autonomously.

“(The BCI) uses near-infrared spectroscopy as well as electrons to measure the blood flow in your brain, as well as electrical signals, and based on this, it can determine your cognitive state, and using this, we are able to modulate the environment to support astronaut performance,” he said.

The same systems are also being applied to a lot of extreme safety-critical applications on earth, such as supporting air traffic controllers, and in healthcare.

Augmented reality gear, El Adl added, will also help astronauts to be able to assist robots in collaborative tasks. (Look for more from MIT here.)

A Trip to the ISS

Meanwhile, crews are working on that future moon landing that follows early efforts nearly half a century ago. But we also have to consider that there are nearer term goals like rescuing Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who are apparently stuck out on the International Space Station after delays in a space trip there. Reportedly, Williams is forgetting how to walk, and changes to the astronauts’ lifestyles concern some analysts, as their timeline in space expands.

“It was in June last year that NASA astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore and Sunita 'Suni' Williams journeyed up into space for a mission that was only supposed to last for eight days,” writes Brenna Cooper at Lad Bible. “However, technical issues with the spacecraft that brought them to the International Space Station were discovered and it was decided that the craft shouldn't be used for their return trip. What was meant to be an eight-day mission is coming up on eight months now, and the pair aren't scheduled to return until March at the earliest. When answering questions from students at her old high school, Williams explained that she's been in space for such a long time that remembering how to walk is getting difficult.”

In short, it looks like those responsible for the space program have their work cut out for them. But it makes sense that AI will be able to help, in part by sharing information with human astronauts, and helping them navigate a place where, some contend, humans were never meant to be. Others would say that we were always meant to explore those vast reaches – and the new technologies will help a lot.