'Do you read me, HAL?' Space agencies weigh pairing astronauts in deep space with AI companions
Fox News
The journey from Earth to Mars can take astronauts two and a half years, so NASA is researching whether AI companions could help them with work and their well-being.
"The size of the vehicle will be relatively small, suggesting that the crew of four or six will live and work… confined in a small habitat," Whitmire continued. "An AI social support tool, if proven to be effective, could serve as part of a toolkit of countermeasures available to future crew venturing on a mission to Mars."
Both NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have explored whether AI-powered companions would support astronauts' mental health and workflows during long journeys. In 2018, ESA debuted the Crew Interactive Mobile Companion, known as CIMON, a round volleyball-like computer that floated around the ISS and could aid astronauts with experiments.
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