NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is developing a new concept that will allow smartphone-sized robots to “roam” the cosmic oceans in search of signs of life. NASA plans to deploy these swimming robots on the Europa Clipper mission in 2024.
Search for alien life has been favourite pastime as well as matter of scientific interest for mankind. Earth is teeming with life. Most part of the blue planet is covered by water. While searching for life on other planets, we often search for signs of presence of water. Because wherever there is water, there’s likely to be life.
Europa, the satellite of planet Jupiter and Enceladus, the satellite of Saturn are covered in ice. The very thick icy sheet goes several kilometres deep from the surface. Scientists think that there are enormous oceans of liquid water under this ice coating on these satellites. At least till now, we have only been able to make conjectures about strange sea creatures swimming in these uncharted oceans.
But now a concept design has proposed a novel solution to the problem of ice sheets several kilometres thick. Ethan Schaler, a robotics mechanical engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has put forth a new idea. Schaler’s Sensing With Independent Micro-Swimmers (SWIM) concept was awarded $600,000 from NASA.
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