Talk: Can you hack a Moon mission?
This event is part of the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition 2026.
We may be closer than ever to returning humans to the Moon, but the next era of space exploration will also depend heavily on robots that can operate autonomously. Robotic missions have already explored the Moon and Mars, and many more autonomous missions are planned in the coming years.
But with the communication delays and operational constraints involved in space missions, direct human control is often limited. That means robust, secure, and verifiable artificial intelligence is needed to help space-travelling robots carry out high-stakes tasks safely and reliably, while remaining resilient to cyber-attack.
In this talk, Sylvester Kaczmarek explains why trustworthy AI matters for space missions, how autonomous systems can be fooled or misled, and how researchers are developing ways to make them safer and more secure.
Attending the event
This event will be held in Theatre 1 at the Royal Society on Friday 3 July 2026, 1pm – 1.30pm.
- Free to attend as part of Summer Science Exhibition on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to seat availability. We recommend that visitors arrive 10-15 minutes before the session
- Eventbrite tickets for Summer Science Exhibition are recommended, with only a limited number of walk-up tickets released on the day
- Suitable for students aged 14+
- This talk will take place in person
- A recording of this talk will be available later on the Royal Society YouTube channel
- Live subtitles will be available
- Travel and accessibility information and details on planning your visit - contact us directly to arrange any specific accessibility requirements
- Food and drink will be available for purchase at our onsite café
For all enquiries, please email us.
Image credit: NASA