When generative AI builds spaceships for NASA

It really does look like "alien" technology.

Hey Everyone,

I’m really fascinated by how A.I. is being used in Space-tech and engineering. There was an interesting example recently this week I wanted to highlight. Even as the U.S. thinks its wise to shoot down high-altitude balloons of foreign states, when NASA's balloon-borne exoplanet-observing telescope EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope (EXCITE) takes to the skies this fall it'll be doing so with a scaffold and support struts with a unique feature: they were designed by an artificial intelligence algorithm.

What struck me is how “alien” that scaffolding looks.

The “spidery” frames are actually just the most efficient.

Language, schmanguage: NASA's generative AI builds spaceships

Another example is using an AI design process, engineers at software company Autodesk and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory came up with a new interplanetary lander concept that could explore distant moons like Europa and Enceladus.

I really love the PR quote on this:

Using a method dubbed "evolved structures," NASA Goddard Space Flight Center research engineer Ryan McClelland's design said the aim was to reduce the mass of spacecraft structural components by two thirds, while at the same time reducing stress risks, by using commercially-available AI software to build parts that can be machined by commercial vendors. 

"They look somewhat alien and weird, but once you see them in function, it really makes sense," McClelland said. 

NASA have have been photo-shopping UFOs out of images for decades, are finally showing how we can also build “alien” type technology.

McClelland said it's a huge departure from the old days when that process could take considerable time. "You can perform the design, analysis and fabrication of a prototype part, and have it in hand in as little as one week," McClelland said of the advanced method. 

A.I. with 3D printing might be important for the future of Space construction.

Looks Alien and Biological in Style

If not alien, the parts could also be described as looking biological in design, like bones or structures that would have evolved to suit the needs of whatever naturally-occurring spacecraft might have evolved on other worlds, if science fiction is to be believed. 

That makes sense given the design process, as NASA explains it. Using CAD software, an engineer tells the system what the part needs to do, how it'll attach to other parts, defines dead spaces where material can't be placed and the AI system generates a part from there. 

Generative A.I. might be more important in the construction industry than we know today in 2023.

A.I. is Designing Mission Critical Componenet by Itself

When NASA's balloon-borne exoplanet-observing telescope EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope (EXCITE) takes to the skies this fall it'll be doing so with a scaffold and support struts with a unique feature: they were designed by an artificial intelligence algorithm.

Using a method dubbed "evolved structures," NASA Goddard Space Flight Center research engineer Ryan McClelland's design said the aim was to reduce the mass of spacecraft structural components by two thirds, while at the same time reducing stress risks, by using commercially-available AI software to build parts that can be machined by commercial vendors. 

"They look somewhat alien and weird, but once you see them in function, it really makes sense," McClelland said. 

An evolved structure designed for NASA's EXCITE mission using AI

If not alien, the parts could also be described as looking biological in design, like bones or structures that would have evolved to suit the needs of whatever naturally-occurring spacecraft might have evolved on other worlds, if science fiction is to be believed. 

That makes sense given the design process, as NASA explains it. Using CAD software, an engineer tells the system what the part needs to do, how it'll attach to other parts, defines dead spaces where material can't be placed and the AI system generates a part from there. 

McClelland said it's a huge departure from the old days when that process could take considerable time. "You can perform the design, analysis and fabrication of a prototype part, and have it in hand in as little as one week," McClelland said of the advanced method. 

"Human intuition knows what looks right, but left to itself, the algorithm can sometimes make structures too thin," McClelland said. 

A.I. is Designing Mission Critical Components by Itself