NASA wants humans back on the Moon in 2028. IBM’s new AI could help get them there

IBM is going to the Moon. Sort of. On Thursday, IBM announced the open-source release of the NASA-IBM Lunar Foundation Model, which may help scientists tap into decades’ worth of lunar data to generate actionable insights in preparation for mankind’s return to the moon. As explained in a press release provided to Fast Company, multitudes of instruments have monitored the Moon’s surface for decades, and the new Lunar Foundation Model will help researchers analyze it all, get a sense of how the surface is changing, and, in short, better prepare for new missions to the Moon. Ultimately, what the tool can do is help astronauts eventually navigate around the moon more safely, track down potential resources (such as ice deposits), and identify certain geological features that may present hazards. The last time humans were on the Moon was in December 1972 as part of the Apollo 17 mission, but plans to return are underway—NASA’s Artemis Program intends to land a crewed mission on the lunar surface in 2028. “The NASA-IBM Lunar Foundation Model gives scientists a foundation to explore the Moon at scale, connecting observations across instruments, revealing patterns that are difficult to see…