AI model masters new terrain at NASA facility one scoop at a time
Extraterrestrial landers sent to gather samples from the surface of distant moons and planets have limited time and battery power to complete their mission. Aerospace and computer science engineering researchers at The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign trained a model to autonomously assess and scoop quickly, then watched it demonstrate its skill on a robot at a NASA facility.
Barry Wilmore and Suni Williams will now come home in March at the earliest, to allow SpaceX and NASA engineers to complete development of a new Crew Dragon spacecraft.
A failure in the helium flow of the SLS rocket has prompted NASA to delay the Artemis II moon mission. Rather than March 6, the launch is now targeted for April.