Archive · 28 Dec 2025
NASA Offers Teen Job and Jet Ride for AI Cosmic Discovery
A high school student named Matteo Paz from California used artificial intelligence to look at old NASA data.
He found 1.5 million things in space that scientists didn't know about before.
NASA was very impressed and offered him a job and a ride in a fighter jet.
Matteo worked with a scientist named Davy Kirkpatrick at Caltech.
He used a special computer program he made to find these space objects.
His work is helping other scientists learn more about the universe.
Matteo Paz, a high school student from California, used AI to analyze NASA NEOWISE data and discovered 1.5 million cosmic objects.
NASA director Jared Isaacman offered Paz a job and a fighter jet ride as a signing bonus.
Paz's project began at Caltech’s Planet Finder Academy under the mentorship of astrophysicist Davy Kirkpatrick.
The AI system Paz designed analyzed 200 billion infrared data points, identifying various celestial phenomena.
Paz's work was published in The Astronomical Journal and is guiding follow-up observations by the James Webb Space Telescope.
- Who
- Matteo Paz, a high school student from California
- What
- Discovered 1.5 million cosmic objects using AI on NASA NEOWISE data
- When
- December 2025
- Where
- California, USA
- Why
- To analyze and identify previously unseen cosmic objects
- Discoverer
- Matteo Paz
- Location
- California, USA
- Data Source
- NASA’s NEOWISE mission
- Discoveries
- 1.5 million cosmic objects
- AI Tool
- Machine learning system designed by Matteo Paz
- Mentor
- Davy Kirkpatrick, Caltech astrophysicist
- Publication
- The Astronomical Journal
- NASA Offer
- Job and fighter jet ride