Space probes and robots

Connect the Dots # 8

There is no end to human curiosity. It is the Ulyssean spirit that takes the mankind forward.  

 

Source: CNet

‘Touchdown confirmed’ was the announcement that launched a thousand smiles and hugs at the Insight mission control in NASA. The spacecraft Insight landed on the surface of the Mars after completing a seven month and 485 million km journey through space. The title of the mission is meaningful because the probe will provide fresh insights into the interior structure of the red planet. Scientifically Insight stands for, (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) As soon as the Solar panels attached to the spacecraft is charged, it will initiate the use of a robotic arm to deploy a seismometer and a probe designed to measure the heat beneath Mars’s surface. The seismometer will record Marsquakes and study meteoritic impacts. The number of Marsquakes will indicate how geologically active the planet is. The heat probe is a mechanical mole that will drill to a depth of five meters, to take Mars’s temperature. Marco-a and Marco-b, the two CubeSats will function as radio relay stations and they will pick up signals from Insight and relay them to Earth. You can explore more about Insight using this link – 

https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/

Photograph: HO/AFP/Getty Images

The second dot is about the Parker Solar probe. The mission is to study the Sun’s behaviour. It is the first spacecraft to be named after a living person - astrophysicist Eugene Parker, 91, who first described solar wind in 1958. The parker probe during its seven-year stay in the space will make 24 loops around Sun to study ‘the physics of the corona, the place where much of the important activity that affects the Earth seems to originate’. (BBC) The Parker probe is also the fastest man-made object which can travel at the speed of 690,000km/h i.e. we can travel to Tokyo from New York in just under a minute. The Parker Solar probe is about the size of a car.  “We’ve been waiting 60 years for the technology to mature enough for us to do such a risky mission. It really is going somewhere we’ve never been before,” says project scientist Nicky Fox who has been working on this project for the past 8 years. Parker Space probe (PSP) will dip into the sun’s atmosphere, where it will have to tolerate temperatures of around 1,400C (seven times hotter than a kitchen oven). PSP will sit behind a heat shield. This special hi-tech parasol will keep the spacecraft alive and able to work. You can join PSP as it moves closer to its objective by clicking on this link - https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe

The third dot takes us to the capital of South Korea Seoul where you can see AI in action.  You’ll find bins that politely ask you to fill them with rubbish, and automated smart apartments that anticipate your every need. The subway system is spotless, efficient, ubiquitous, with wifi so strong my fingers can’t keep up with my thoughts. People don’t read the print-and-paper book on the subway. Even inside the toilet, we have the wonders of AI in action. Smartlet from Korea’s Daelim is one smart potty which has a control panel with close to 20 buttons. 

The apartment buildings are examples of the ‘Internet of things’. When you pull into the garage; a sensor reads your license plate and lets your host know that you have arrived. Another feature monitors the weather and warns you to take your umbrella. An internet-connected kitchen monitor can call up your favourite cookbook. Apartment owners wear wristbands that allow them to open doors and access services in the building. Hubo, a charming humanoid robot is another that is a representative of the AI revolution that is happening in South Korea. The humanoid robots can provide assistance to the elderly and can even provide emotional companionship. JunHo Oh the creator of Hubo says that in the future “Everything will be roboticised.”

The future is getting shaped and it will unlock new worlds. How do we prepare ourselves for this changing worldview? How will we descibe it -  a utopia or a dystopia?