Cloud computing and artificial intelligence will meet in a new space station device.
Microsoft will connect its cloud computing Azure Space platform to the Spaceborne Computer-2, a Hewlett-Packard Enterprise product that promises “edge computing and [artificial intelligence] possibilities for the International Space Station (ISS). “
Spaceborne Computer-2 will be launched into space aboard one on February 20 Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship that will also provide tons of other supplies, experiments and food for the station’s Expedition 64 astronauts. An Antares missile will launch the Cygnus NG-15 cargo mission from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.
Spaceborne Computer-2’s mission can last two or three years. Once the computer is in orbit, researchers can use the Azure cloud system to perform intensive operations or to send results back to the device. The computer is based on the HPE Edgeline Converged Edge system designed to operate in harsh environments.
Growing plants in space, modeling Earth’s dust storms to help plan the mission to Mars, and doing medical ultrasounds for astronaut health care are some of the many areas the collaboration will focus on. the companies said in a press release
Artificial intelligence (AI) and a closely related field, machine learning, make this possible computers to make decisions based on the data they receive to give the most salient information to people. AI and machine learning can also take on more repetitive data tasks, allowing people to focus on other work.
The technology is very promising, although some are concerned about the “black box” in which computers make decisions in which metrics may be poorly known to humans. But the benefits in space include time savings for astronauts and cosmonauts, who have tight schedules to work in a remote environment where high-speed internet cannot always be guaranteed.
“The combined advancements of Spaceborne Computer-2 will enable astronauts to eliminate longer latency and latency times associated with sending data to and from Earth to tackle research and gain instant insights for a range of projects” , the release added.
The new project builds on lessons learned from a predecessor proof-of-concept device called Spaceborne Computer. This flew to the space station in 2017 for a year-long mission to investigate the reliability of computers in space, amid a harsh environment with lots of radiation and no gravity.
“The goal was to test whether affordable, commercial turnkey servers used on Earth, but equipped with purposefully designed software-based hardening features, can withstand the shaking, rattling and rolling of a rocket launch into space, and once there, operate seamlessly on the ISS, ”the press release said, adding that the predecessor mission was a success.
“In addition, obtaining more reliable computing on the ISS is only the first step in NASA’s goals for supporting manned space travel to the Moon, Mars and beyond, where reliable communication is a critical need,” the publication said.
Microsoft and SpaceX are also collaborating on an Azure Space project. The companies announced in October Microsoft will gain access to SpaceX’s fast-growing Starlink network of satellites for a new “Azure Modular Datacenter”. This would be a unit that could be deployed anywhere, even in remote environments, to create remote connectivity access or support existing access.
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