NASA Evolutionary Software Automatically Designs Antenna

NASA artificial intelligence (AI) software - working on a network of personal computers - has designed a satellite antenna scheduled to orbit Earth in 2005. The antenna, able to fit into a one-inch space (2.5 by 2.5 centimeters), can receive commands and send data to Earth from the Space Technology 5 (ST5) satellites. The three satellites - each no bigger than an average TV set - will help scientists study magnetic fields in Earth's magnetosphere. NASA scientists have spent two years developing the evolutionary AI software that designed the antenna. "The AI software examined millions of potential antenna designs before settling on a final one," said project lead Jason Lohn, a scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center, located in California's Silicon Valley.