From Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars, explore the world of human spaceflight with NASA each week on the official podcast of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Listen to in-depth conversations with the astronauts, scientists and engineers who make it possible.
On Episode 424, NASA Acting Chief Data and AI Officer Kevin Murphy discusses how artificial intelligence is supporting missions, research, and the future of human spaceflight. This episode was recorded in May 5, 2026.
Transcript
Nilufar Ramji
Houston We Have a Podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, Episode 424: AI at NASA. I’m Nilufar Ramji, and I’ll be your host today. On this podcast we bring in the experts: scientists, engineers, and astronauts, all to let you know what’s going on in the world of human spaceflight and more.
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, continues to be a hot topic across several industries and communities of practice. As humanity continues to innovate, the technology follows. And for decades, and even centuries, that evolution has brought us to the next big leap- computing systems that can perform complex tasks normally done by humans, as it relates to human reasoning, decision making, and creation of content. At NASA, AI helps support missions and research projects, analyzes data to reveal trends and patterns, and develop systems capable of supporting spacecraft autonomously.
With safety and security as a top priority, NASA researchers and scientists have been leveraging artificial intelligence for decades. Most recently, they are looking at emerging AI and how it can best serve missions. What this could mean is sifting through satellite imagery, developing technology for autonomous vehicles, and searching for planets outside of our solar system using our deep space telescopes to name some examples.
The question remains though, how can NASA continue to adopt these emerging methodologies and work with industry to ensure that advancement continues safely and securely? Joining me today, we have Kevin Murphy, NASA’s Acting Chief Data and AI Officer to tell us about what that landscape looks like.
Let’s get started.
Nilufar Ramji
Kevin, thank you so much for joining us on Houston We Have a Podcast. Before we go ahead and get started, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and wh …