NASA-IBM Collaborate on Open-Source AI for Lunar Surface Analysis

NASA and IBM have collaborated on an open-source AI system designed to help scientists analyze the Moon's surface. The Lunar Foundation Model, as it is called, has been trained on around two million image tiles covering much of the Moon.

The model draws heavily on data gathered by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) during more than 17 years of lunar observations.

Initial testing found that the model matched or outperformed several established AI models across the evaluated tasks, with a particularly strong advantage when estimating the stability of ice deposits near the lunar poles.