Tim Furniss/LONDON
NASA has pioneered the use of artificial intelligence as a primary means of controlling a spacecraft. The space agency's New Millennium programme flagship, Deep Space 1, has been placed under the full control of the craft's Remote Agent. The spacecraft, launched from Cape Canaveral on 24 October last year, is flying the first of NASA's New Millennium technology demonstration missions.
The Remote Agent is capable of planning, making decisions and operating by itself. Sophisticated software is programmed into the spacecraft's computer, to allow it to think and act on its own, without human intervention. The Agent is also programmed to recognise and remedy failures and request help from mission control, if needed.
NASA's $152 million Deep Space 1 is en route for a rendezvous and flyby of asteroid 1992 KD in July. For the first time in interplanetary exploration, the craft is being powered by an ion propulsion system, with thrust generated by electrically charged atoms of xenon. The spacecraft has completed its six-week ion-propulsion burn. Fine tuning the flightpath involved a 20h burn and two further burns of are planned for June and July.
Meanwhile, NASA's Champollion New Millennium Deep Space 4 mission, to land on a comet nucleus which had been threatened by budget problems is back on track after a redesign.
The $158 million mission will be of a single craft, rather than a mother ship and small lander. The single craft will map the comet nucleus for some months before attempting a landing to conduct experiments.
Source: Flight International
