The artificial intelligence software can classify and highlight features on the Moon’s surface.
COLORADO SPRINGS—As part of a demonstration, Astrobotic will use an artificial intelligence-enabled software program to control and monitor its CubeRover lunar rover on its upcoming mission to the Moon.
The software, called Spacefarer, was developed by Mission Control Space Systems of Ottawa, Canada, the two companies announced here at Space Symposium on April 8.
Spacefarer is a web-based program that supports joystick control of vehicles, but due to transmission bandwidth and delay constraints, the small CubeRover will instead be controlled with command sequences from users on the ground.
“You would look at an image that you'd receive back [from the rover’s camera] ... then you could point and click on the surface and say, 'I want to go here,'" says Ewan Reid, CEO of Mission Control. “On this mission, we'll be looking at classifying the terrain in front of the rover to understand what kind of terrain it is and then using that to make decisions about where we can drive safely.”
The artificial intelligence software can classify and highlight features on the Moon’s surface, such as regolith, boulders and craters, according to the company’s website.
The CubeRover will fly on Astrobotic’s second attempt to reach the Moon. In January, the company attempted to send a smaller lunar lander—its Peregrine vehicle—to the surface of the Moon, but the mission had to be scrapped after launch due to apparent problems with the spacecraft’s propulsion system. The company operated the lander in space for 10 days before bringing it back to Earth for reentry into the atmosphere.
Astrbotic is attempting to land its larger Griffin lunar lander, with the CubeRover onboard, at the lunar south pole. That vehicle is scheduled to launch on its inaugural mission as soon as the fourth quarter of 2024.
The Canadian Space Agency, through its Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program, is financially supporting the Spacefarer lunar lander demonstration mission. The agency also funded the development of Spacefarer via its Space Technology Development program.
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