A research project called "A sample of fault-tolerant network interaction and computation" is headed by  Dr. Jin Wei Kocsis, assistant professor, specializing in the field of computer technology. This is reported by CCN.

Kocsis received a three-year grant of $ 330,000. She intends to use it to develop a cognitive architecture that will allow the aircraft to travel in outer space without relying on critical data from Earth scientists.

Instead, smart contracts based on Ethereum will help them "think on their own" in the process of detecting and evading debris that could cause serious damage to the device in the event of a collision.

In this project, the Ethereum blockchain technology will be exploited to develop a decentralized, secure, and cognitive networking and computing infrastructure for deep space exploration. The blockchain consensus protocols will be further explored to improve the resilience of the infrastructure.
 

Dr. Jin Wei Kocsis

Assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, University of Akron 

Kocsis believes that the decentralized infrastructure will, among other things, help automate the collection of data, which in turn will free up human resources, currently conducting complex calculations during flights, and throw them into data analysis.

I hope to develop technology that can recognize environmental threats and avoid them, as well as complete a number of tasks automatically.
 

Dr. Jin Wei Kocsis

Assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, University of Akron 

Whether the project will use a public or private version of Ethereum blockchain is unknown.