A technology called Dynamic Targeting could enable spacecraft to decide, autonomously and within seconds, where to best make science observations from orbit.
A technology called Dynamic Targeting could enable spacecraft to decide, autonomously and within seconds, where to best make science observations from orbit.
In a recent test, NASA showed how artificial intelligence-based technology could help orbiting spacecraft provide more targeted and valuable science data. The technology enabled an Earth-observing satellite for the first time to look ahead along its orbital path, rapidly process and analyze imagery with onboard AI, and determine where to point an instrument. The whole process took less than 90 seconds, without any human involvement.
Called Dynamic Targeting, the concept has been in development for more than a decade at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The first of a series of flight tests occurred aboard a commercial satellite in mid-July. The goal: to show the potential of Dynamic Targeting to enable orbiters to improve ground imaging by avoiding clouds and also to autonomously hunt for specific, short-lived phenomena like wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and rare storms.
Read more: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Image: Cloud cover can keep optical instruments on satellites from clearly capturing Earth’s surface. Still in testing, JPL’s Dynamic Targeting uses AI to avoid imaging clouds, yielding a higher proportion of usable data, and to focus on phenomena like this 2015 volcanic eruption in Indonesia Landsat 8 captured.
NASA/USGS
