The crew portrait for Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-75 (seated left to right) American NASA … [+] astronaut Scott J Horowiz, American NASA astronaut Andrew M Allen, Costa Rican-American NASA astronaut Franklin R Chang-Diaz, (standing) Italian ESA astronaut Maurizio Cheli, Italian ESA astronaut Umberto Guidoni, American NASA astronaut Jeffrey A Hoffman, and Swiss ESA astronaut Claude Nicollier) wearing their partial-pressure launch-and-entry suits ahead of Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-75, at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, December 1995. The primary objective of STS-75 (22nd February to 9th March 1996) was to deploy the Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TSS-1R), which was launched into orbit on a conducting tether. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Archive Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Getty ImagesIf our success with AI puts us in a world of science fiction, what does that have to do with another kind of science fiction – the exploration of space?
Recently, I had a chance to catch up with a very unique interview subject – Jeff Hoffman has been up in space no less than five times, including on the Hubble telescope mission in 1993, and has experience traveling millions of miles beyond the earth.
I talked to him about his space shuttle flights, and how that experience relates to the current day, where we have so much of a focus on artificial intelligence.
“A lot of the new discoveries in astronomy come from recognizing patterns,” he said, “and AI is capable of pattern recognition at a much deeper level than a lot of human beings – so understanding planetary orbits, exoplanets, we’re only just starting … “
Space background with realistic nebula and shining stars. Colorful cosmos with stardust and milky … [+] way. Magic color galaxy. Infinite universe and starry night. Vector illustration.
getty
The difference between theory and praxis, he noted, reflects on his career and what NASA was able to do throughout the decades.
“As an astronaut, my background is in astrophysics,” he said. “They didn’t send me up to do astronomy. They sent me up to fix the Hubble telescope, which probably did a lot more for astronomy than if I had remained doing research.”
As for the research that’s been done, he talked about the limits of human interpretation, and how AI will help us get to the next level, specifically referencing the Hubble telescope.
“Hubble’s been around for 30 years,” he said. “We barely had AI back then, but in analyzing enormous amounts, terabytes of data coming down from these astronomy observatories, it’s too much for human beings to go through, and so without AI, we’re going to hit a wall.”
I asked him about interesting things on the horizon…
“The search for exoplanets, particularly earth-like planets, requires an analysis of lots and lots of data,” he said. “So I suspect that there’s going to be a lot of exoplanets in the future, discovered by AI systems, and then, of course, there’s a lot of work for the humans to do after they’re discovered. … It’s opening up so many new horizons in astrophysics as well as everything else.”
In detailing some of his experience up in deep space, Hoffman was pretty modest about traveling where few are bold enough or lucky enough to tread.
“You don’t get frequent flyer miles,” he quipped.
I asked him about whether there is a specific kind of life, AI life, elsewhere in the universe. If we believe that there is human-like life elsewhere, do we think they have discovered the same sorts of autonomous computing?
“I believe that there is life in the universe,” Hoffman said in response. “I’m not sure what ‘AI life’ really means. … when you look at how many planets are in our galaxy, and how many galaxies there are in the universe, by the laws of physics and chemistry, which seem to be the same all over the universe, if biology arrives out of physics and chemistry, we’re going to have life all over the universe. … I believe it, but as a scientist, I want evidence.”
Female Farm Worker Using Digital Tablet With Virtual Reality Artificial Intelligence (AI) for … [+] Analyzing Plant Disease in Sugarcane Agriculture Fields. Technology Smart Farming and Innovation Agricultural Concepts.
gettyHe also contrasted his classic space shuttle flights with new modes of splashdown where astronauts might end up, say, vaulting back into the earth’s atmosphere in a capsule.
“I have to say, it’s a lot more elegant to fly back from space with wings and land on a runway,” he said. “If you’re going to come back from space, that’s the way to do it.”
This was a really good interview! I wanted to get it out there quickly! Look for more on our AI exploration from a more terrestrial viewpoint – but in the meantime, think about how it looks through an astronaut’s eyes!
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{URL}https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwerner/2024/06/13/five-time-astronaut-hoffman-talks-about-space-and-ai/{/URL}
{Author}John Werner, Contributor{/Author}
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