Progress on AI, Robotics, and Automation in Space: A Report from i-SAIRAS 08

by Richard Doyle, Erick Dupuis, Mitsushige Oda, Jean-Claude Piedbeouf, and Gianfranco Visentin

Space exploration has never seen such a broad basis of international activity as in recent years. All the established national-level space agencies—the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), NASA, and the European Space Agency (ESA)—have ongoing programs with vigorous objectives and notable accomplishments, particularly in planetary exploration. To cite just a few examples, CSA provided the meteorological station on the Phoenix mission to Mars and has been investing heavily in technology development for future Martian and lunar missions.

In Europe, the development of ExoMars is in full swing, capitalizing on contributions from the US (scientific instruments) and Canada. At NASA, the Spirit and Opportunity rovers (as of this writing continue to operate on the surface of Mars, having found conclusive evidence of liquid water in the planet's past. The Messenger mission is providing unprecedented science data about Mercury, while Cassini/Huygens has revealed the tantalizing presence of methane and ethane on Titan's surface and the unexpected presence of water geysers on Enceladus.

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