According to a report, the Canadian Space Agency has built what it claims will be the world's first AI tool to reach beyond the low Earth orbit by sending it to the surface of the moon in a new mission that involves Japan's Hakuto-R lunar lander launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.  

The ML algorithm will help a lunar rover housed inside the Hakuto-R lander in its search for minerals on the moon's surface. The technology is developed by Canada's Mission Control Space Services (MCSS). The company works with numerous space and research bodies and agencies worldwide.  

According to Mission Control Space Services (MCSS) CEO Ewan Reid, if this works, the tech will be big for NASA's moon push. In addition, he stated that AI would be a critical enabling tool for decision-making onboard spacecraft.  

MCSS will receive the Rashid rover's navigation images via the Japanese lander, handling communication with Earth. With the Canadian company's algorithm, every pixel in the image will be classified as a certain terrain type. 

Future missions will take humans "out of the loop" once engineers are confident the AI knows how to tell different minerals apart and distinguish between critical mission items like rocks and craters.  

AI can save limited satellite bandwidth on the moon, as it would only share the data, images, and videos that scientists need. In addition, the tech can be repurposed all over the solar system, including applications like detecting "dark" ships on Earth trying to sail without registration or filtering clouds from planetary images.