Since Japan launched its first deep space probe in 1985, the photographs have been taken in a relatively low-tech way, by pointing cameras at objects in the cosmos and letting them run. Whatever is captured gets sent back to Earth, where people cull the material for the most beautiful shots. 

Problem is, this dragnet approach uses up precious bandwidth and batteries. So Japan’s space agency is experimenting with a camera that’s more discriminating: It decides which pics have the best light, angle and composition, and beams back only those. Using artificial intelligence on powerful, large computers? That’s no big deal. But it’s a lot harder on a tiny spacecraft with its serious energy constraints.