Source report. A new citizen-science project will use human classifications to improve the handling of space-telescope data.
Source: NASA citizen science. Original source published 11 September 2026. Published on Alder Atlas: 14 September 2026.
A different kind of space task
NASA introduced Artifact InSPECtor on 11 September, asking volunteers to help recognise unwanted features in telescope data. The project supports work connected to Euclid and Roman, with human classifications intended to help train artificial-intelligence systems.
Not everything in a detector is a distant object
Reflections, cosmic-ray strikes and detector behaviour can leave marks that complicate scientific measurements. Recognising these artefacts helps researchers distinguish instrumental effects from the signals they want to study. The task concerns the reliability of the data, rather than confirming a discovery each time someone submits a classification.
The public contribution
Citizen science here takes place in the preparation of evidence. Many small judgements can help build examples for later automated processing. Readers interested in taking part should use the project link in NASA’s announcement, where the current instructions and participation details are provided.
Sources & further reading
This is an independently worded, source-based report prepared with AI assistance for the Alder Atlas editorial project. It is not first-hand reporting.