Software on a NASA spacecraft recently made a scientific
observation on its own without human interaction. The Space
Technology 6 Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment captured
images of Antarctica’s Mount Erebus and detected volcanic
activity.
The software, developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL), Pasadena, Calif., controls the Earth Observing-1
spacecraft. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC),
Greenbelt, Md, manages the satellite. The software examines
pictures from the Hyperion spectrometer, an instrument highly
sensitive to heat released from molten lava.
After taking an image of Erebus, the software detected heat
from the lava lake at the summit of the volcano and
reprogrammed the camera to take more pictures. News of the
detection was rapidly transmitted to scientists, where
typically, it could take months to learn a remote volcano was
active. Scientists normally would need to take measurements
at the volcano to detect the same type of event. Researchers
at JPL and GSFC will test the Autonomous Sciencecraft
Experiment on Erebus and other volcanoes for the next several
months.
“Autonomous Sciencecraft is a giant leap toward a thinking
spacecraft,” said Dr. Steve Chien, JPL senior technologist
for the software. “The software is the first use of autonomy
allowing the spacecraft to make decisions without waiting for
commands from scientists. It can capture short-lived science
events that otherwise would have been missed,” Chien added.
“With this software we can monitor many more volcanoes, since
it knows how to only look at the active sites,” said Dr.
Ashley Davies, JPL lead scientist for the experiment. “This
software can be used to track natural disasters that pose
danger to populated areas, such as flooding and fires,” said
Rob Sherwood, JPL experiment manager.
Future versions of the software also may be used to track
dust storms on Mars, search for ice volcanoes on Europa, and
track activity on Jupiter’s volcanically active moon Io.
NASA’s New Millennium Program developed both the satellite
and the software. The Program is responsible for testing new
technologies in space.
For more information on the Autonomous Sciencecraft
Experiment on the Internet, visit:
For information about the Earth Observing-1 spacecraft on the
Internet, visit:
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