Invited Talk: The EO-1 Autonomous Sciencecraft and Prospects for Future Autonomous Space Exploration

An Autonomous Science Agent is currently flying onboard the Earth Observing One Spacecraft. With this software the spacecraft autonomously detects and responds to science events occurring on the Earth including volcanoes, flooding, and cryophere. The package includes software systems that perform science data analysis, deliberative planning, and run-time robust execution. This autonomy software has enabled a 100x increase in science return and has been the primary operations system for the Earth Observing One Mission since November 2004. In this talk I describe the revolutionary new science enabled by onboard autonomy as well as impact on extended missions such as the Mars Exploration Rovers and Mars Odyssey as well as future missions in development.