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By NASA
Internal view of LignoSat’s structure shows the relationship among wooden panels, aluminum frames, and stainless-steel shafts.Credit: Kyoto University In December 2024, five CubeSats deployed into Earth’s orbit from the International Space Station. Among them was LignoSat, a wooden satellite from JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) that investigates the use of wood in space. Findings could offer a more sustainable alternative to conventional satellites.
A previous experiment aboard station exposed three species of wood to the space environment to help researchers determine the best option for LignoSat. The final design used 10 cm long honoki magnolia wood panels assembled with a Japanese wood-joinery method.
Researchers will use sensors to evaluate strain on the wood and measure its responses to temperature and radiation in space. Geomagnetic levels will also be monitored to determine whether the geomagnetic field can penetrate the body of the wooden satellite and interfere with its technological capabilities. Investigating uses for wood in space could lead to innovative solutions in the future.
A traditional Japanese wooden joining method, the Blind Miter Dovetail Joint, is used for LignoSat to connect two wooden panels without using glue or nails.Credit: Kyoto University Three CubeSats are deployed from space station, including LignoSat. Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
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By NASA
NASA’s 2024 AI Use Case inventory highlights the agency’s commitment to integrating artificial intelligence in its space missions and operations. The agency’s updated inventory consists of active AI use cases, ranging from AI-driven autonomous space operations, such as navigation for the Perseverance Rover on Mars, to advanced data analysis for scientific discovery.
AI Across NASA
NASA’s use of AI is diverse and spans several key areas of its missions:
Autonomous Exploration and Navigation
AEGIS (Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science): AI-powered system designed to autonomously collect scientific data during planetary exploration. Enhanced AutoNav for Perseverance Rover: Utilizes advanced autonomous navigation for Mars exploration, enabling real-time decision-making. MLNav (Machine Learning Navigation): AI-driven navigation tools to enhance movement across challenging terrains. Perseverance Rover on Mars – Terrain Relative Navigation: AI technology supporting the rover’s navigation across Mars, improving accuracy in unfamiliar terrain. Mission Planning and Management
ASPEN Mission Planner: AI-assisted tool that helps streamline space mission planning and scheduling, optimizing mission efficiency. AWARE (Autonomous Waiting Room Evaluation): AI system that manages operational delays, improving mission scheduling and resource allocation. CLASP (Coverage Planning & Scheduling): AI tools for resource allocation and scheduling, ensuring mission activities are executed seamlessly. Onboard Planner for Mars2020 Rover: AI system that helps the Perseverance Rover autonomously plan and schedule its tasks during its mission. Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
SensorWeb for Environmental Monitoring: AI-powered system used to monitor environmental factors such as volcanoes, floods, and wildfires on Earth and beyond. Volcano SensorWeb: Similar to SensorWeb, but specifically focused on volcanic activity, leveraging AI to enhance monitoring efforts. Global, Seasonal Mars Frost Maps: AI-generated maps to study seasonal variations in Mars’ atmosphere and surface conditions. Data Management and Automation
NASA OCIO STI Concept Tagging Service: AI tools that organize and tag NASA’s scientific data, making it easier to access and analyze. Purchase Card Management System (PCMS): AI-assisted system for streamlining NASA’s procurement processes and improving financial operations. Aerospace and Air Traffic Control
NextGen Methods for Air Traffic Control: AI tools to optimize air traffic control systems, enhancing efficiency and reducing operational costs. NextGen Data Analytics: Letters of Agreement: AI-driven analysis of agreements within air traffic control systems, improving management and operational decision-making. Space Exploration
Mars2020 Rover (Perseverance): AI systems embedded within the Perseverance Rover to support its mission to explore Mars. SPOC (Soil Property and Object Classification): AI-based classification system used to analyze soil and environmental features, particularly for Mars exploration. Ethical AI: NASA’s Responsible Approach
NASA ensures that all AI applications adhere to Responsible AI (RAI) principles outlined by the White House in its Executive Order 13960. This includes ensuring AI systems are transparent, accountable, and ethical. The agency integrates these principles into every phase of development and deployment, ensuring AI technologies used in space exploration are both safe and effective.
Looking Forward: AI’s Expanding Role
As AI technologies evolve, NASA’s portfolio of AI use cases will continue to grow. With cutting-edge tools currently in development, the agency is poised to further integrate AI into more aspects of space exploration, from deep space missions to sustainable solutions for planetary exploration.
By maintaining a strong commitment to both technological innovation and ethical responsibility, NASA is not only advancing space exploration but also setting an industry standard for the responsible use of artificial intelligence in scientific and space-related endeavors.
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By NASA
3 min read
2023 Entrepreneurs Challenge Winner Skyline Nav AI: Revolutionizing GPS-Independent Navigation with Computer Vision
NASA sponsored Entrepreneurs Challenge events in 2020, 2021, and 2023 to identify innovative ideas and technologies from small business start-ups with the potential to advance the agency’s science goals. To help leverage external funding sources for the development of innovative technologies of interest to NASA, SMD involved the venture capital community in Entrepreneurs Challenge events. Challenge winners were awarded prize money, and in 2023 the total Entrepreneurs Challenge prize value was $1M. Numerous challenge winners have subsequently received funding from both NASA and external sources (e.g., other government agencies or the venture capital community) to further develop their technologies.
Skyline Nav AI, a winner of the 2023 NASA Entrepreneurs Challenge, is pioneering GPS-independent navigation by leveraging cutting-edge computer vision models, artificial intelligence (AI), and edge computing.
Skyline Nav AI’s flagship technology offers precise, real-time geolocation without the need for GPS, Wi-Fi, or cellular networks. The system utilizes machine learning algorithms to analyze terrain and skyline features and match them with preloaded reference datasets, providing up to centimeter-level accuracy in GPS-denied environments. This capability could enable operations in areas where GPS signals are absent, blocked, degraded, spoofed, or jammed, including urban canyons, mountainous regions, and the Moon.
Skyline Nav AI’s flagship technology at work in New York to provide precise location by matching the detected skyline with a reference data set. The red line shows detection by Skyline Nav AI technology, the green line marks the true location in the reference satellite dataset, and the orange line represents the matched location (i.e., the location extracted from the satellite dataset using Skyline Nav AI algorithms). Skyline Nav’s visual navigation technology can deliver accuracy up to five meters, 95% of the time. The AI-powered visual positioning models continuously improve geolocation precision through pixel-level analysis and semantic segmentation of real-time images, offering high reliability without the need for GPS.
In addition to its visual-based AI, Skyline Nav AI’s software is optimized for edge computing, ensuring that all processing occurs locally on the user’s device. This design enables low-latency, real-time decision-making without constant satellite or cloud-based connectivity, making it ideal for disconnected environments such as combat zones or space missions.
Furthermore, Skyline Nav AI’s technology can be integrated with various sensors, including inertial measurement units (IMUs), lidar, and radar, to further enhance positioning accuracy. The combination of visual navigation and sensor fusion can enable centimeter-level accuracy, making the technology potentially useful for autonomous vehicles, drones, and robotics operating in environments where GPS is unreliable.
“Skyline Nav AI aims to provide the world with an accurate, resilient alternative to GPS,” says Kanwar Singh, CEO of Skyline Nav AI. “Our technology empowers users to navigate confidently in even the most challenging environments, and our recent recognition by NASA and other partners demonstrates the value of our innovative approach to autonomous navigation.”
Skyline Nav AI continues to expand its influence through partnerships with organizations such as NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the commercial market. Recent collaborations include projects with MIT, Draper Labs, and AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory), as well as winning the MOVE America 2024 Pitch competition and being a finalist in SXSW 2024.
Sponsoring Organization: The NASA Science Mission Directorate sponsored the Entrepreneurs Challenge events.
Project Leads: Kanwar Singh, Founder & CEO of Skyline Nav AI
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Last Updated Jan 07, 2025 Related Terms
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By Space Force
The inclusion of these C2 centers was a deliberate effort to add a layer of realism and enhance the exercise's effectiveness in preparing joint space forces for the challenges of the Great Power Competition.
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By NASA
NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Don Pettit points a camera outside a window on the International Space Station’s Poisk module for a sun photography session. (Credit: NASA) Students from Hawthorne Elementary School in Boise, Idaho, will have the chance to hear NASA astronaut Don Pettit answer their prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related questions from aboard the International Space Station.
Watch the 20-minute space-to-Earth call at 12:30 p.m. EST Friday, Jan. 10, on NASA+ and learn how to watch NASA content on various platforms, including social media.
Media interested in covering the event must RSVP by 5 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 7, to
Dan Hollar at dan.hollar@boiseschools.org or 208-854-4064.
For more than 24 years, astronauts have continuously lived and worked aboard the space station, testing technologies, performing science, and developing skills needed to explore farther from Earth. Astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through SCaN’s (Space Communications and Navigation) Near Space Network.
Important research and technology investigations taking place aboard the space station benefit people on Earth and lays the groundwork for other agency missions. As part of NASA’s Artemis campaign, the agency will send astronauts to the Moon to prepare for future human exploration of Mars; inspiring Artemis Generation explorers and ensuring the United States continues to lead in space exploration and discovery.
See videos and lesson plans highlighting space station research at:
https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation
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Abbey Donaldson
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
Abbey.a.donaldson@nasa.gov
Sandra Jones
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
sandra.p.jones@nasa.gov
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