Take up the challenge to explore the moon’s surface
Are you interested in exploring the moon? The EU-funded EXPLORE project has launched three challenges aimed at lunar enthusiasts of all ages. The mission is to identify features on the moon that could be potential hazards for a lunar rover and to plot a course for the rover across a specific region of interest. Prizes include vouchers totalling EUR 1 500, as well as pieces of real moon rock from lunar meteorites. The lunar region targeted by the EXPLORE Lunar Data Challenges is the Archytas Dome and its surroundings. The dome is located inside the Mare Frigoris in the far north of the moon.
The challenges
The EXPLORE Machine Learning Lunar Data Challenge is open to specialists and beginners in areas relating to planetary science, and also to anyone with expertise in data processing. The challenge is to identify specific geomorphological features on the Archytas Dome using machine learning techniques. Participants will be provided with remote sensing data that they will need to use as training data to automatically detect hazards the rover should avoid and locations it will visit to perform scientific experiments. PhD student Giacomo Nodjoumi from EXPLORE project partner Jacobs University, Germany, announced the EXPLORE Machine Learning Lunar Data Challenge during the Europlanet Science Congress 2022 held in Spain in September. As reported in a ‘EurekAlert!’ news release, Nodjoumi described the challenge as follows: “The Challenge uses data of the Archytas Dome taken by the Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. This area of the Moon is packed craters of different ages, boulders, mounds, and a long, sinuous depression, or rille. The wide variety of features in this zone makes it a very interesting area for exploration and the perfect scenario for this Data Challenge.” The second challenge is the EXPLORE Public Data Challenge open to anyone who wants to try their hand at plotting a journey for a rover across the moon’s surface. Participants must label as many hazards (craters, rilles, mounds and ridges) as they can find on the provided image of the moon’s surface, and then plot the rover’s journey on the image. The goal is to avoid the labelled hazards and visit as many of the scientific sites marked on the image as possible. Last but not least is the EXPLORE Lunar Classroom Challenge. Aimed at school students 10 to 14 years old, it encourages young learners to discover how machine learning is furthering lunar research and to test their knowledge through the EXPLORE 2022 Lunar Classroom Challenge Activities. “Through the EXPLORE Data Challenges, we aim to raise awareness of the scientific tools that we are developing, improve their accuracy by bringing in expertise from other communities, and involve schools and the public in space science research,” remarked Nick Cox of EXPLORE project coordinator ACRI-ST, France, in the same news release. The EXPLORE (Innovative Scientific Data Exploration and Exploitation Applications for Space Sciences) project’s data challenges aim to support the automation of planetary mapping and the identification of hazards or resources for future missions. The deadline for entries is 21 November 2022. Winners will be announced on 11 December to coincide with the final lunar touchdown celebrations for Apollo 17. For more information, please see: EXPLORE project website EXPLORE Data Challenges website
Keywords
EXPLORE, moon, lunar, rover, Archytas Dome, space science