NASA Launches Artifact InSPECtor Project

Public invited to aid NASA in enhancing data from powerful space telescopes.

NASA has unveiled the Artifact InSPECtor project, inviting the public to contribute to the enhancement of data collected by space telescopes. Among these observatories is the Euclid telescope, a collaboration between the European Space Agency and NASA, gathering light from millions of distant galaxies. Soon, NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will join in capturing a similar volume of the cosmos. Both telescopes deploy spectrographs to unravel the mysteries of the universe and dark energy by splitting galactic light into a spectrum of colors. However, challenges such as artifacts from cosmic rays and reflections can affect data quality. To tackle this, astronomers are developing AI tools to better recognize and address these artifacts.