Onboard Science Autonomy
The OWLS instrument suite can collect thousands of times more data than can be transmitted to Earth. Therefore, onboard science autonomy is required to distill out the most valuable biosignatures and ensure this information is transmitted to science experts. By summarizing and prioritizing data from multiple instruments, the science team has the best opportunity to bring together multiple overlapping lines of evidence when making conclusions about the potential existence of life.
The OWLS onboard science autonomy analyzes raw samples taken from OCEANS and ELVIS systems. Data is compressed by 3-4 orders of magnitude and prioritized for downlink according to expected scientific value.
Limited data can be transmitted from an outer planet to Earth. OWLS onboard science autonomy reduces the vast amount of data collected onboard by a factor of thousands in order to send the most relevant data to scientists waiting back at Earth. These scientists can then request different data, or change the algorithm used to select data for downlink.
The science data autonomy is developed hand in hand with the OCEANS and ELVIS scientists. The algorithm development focuses on transparency of the onboard decision-making process, robustness to outliers, and reconfigurability so scientists can tune the way data is processed and prioritized on the fly.
The OWLS mass spectrometer detects molecular fingerprints of life-like compounds (e.g., amino acids, nucleobases, etc.). Onboard autonomy extracts quantitative properties of extracted peaks, reducing data downlink while preserving science content.
Onboard autonomy generates summarization products to greatly compress data while retaining signs of life. This figure shows single image representations of microscopy movies. Particles are highlighted by using color to indicate the time point when each pixel changed maximally. This technique helps visually separate drifting debris from swimming organisms.