NASA trains artificial intelligence systems to help in search for life on Mars and Jupiter's moons

Artificial intelligence will help scientists search for signs of ancient life on Mars and other planets thanks to work by NASA scientists in training the system. The European Space Agency (ESA) Rosalind Franklin'ExoMars' rover will be the first to have the new AI system when it leaves for the Red Planet in 2022/2023. Allowing these intelligent systems to choose both what to analyse and what to tell us back on Earth will overcome severe limits on how information is transmitted over huge distances in the search for life from distant planets. The system is being tested on Mars but has been designed to be used in future missions to the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn where distance is more of an issue. The European Space Agency (ESA) Rosalind Franklin'ExoMars' rover will be the first to have the new AI system when it leaves for the Red Planet in 2022/2023 Presenting the work at the Goldschmidt Geochemistry conference, lead researcher Victoria Da Poian from NASA said this was a'visionary step in space exploration'.