Robot to ‘SWIM’ on Other Planets: Will This New Phone-Sized Drone of NASA Find Signs of Life Outside Earth?

The American space agency NASA is currently working on the development of a robot called Cryobot to swim in extraterrestrial waters.

As specified in a California18 report, the invention came "after the rovers intended to explore the surface of other planets."

This is a project that could be useful in the decades to come. If at present, the planet Mars is at the heart of many problems in terms of space conquest, engineers at NASA are already anticipating the next step.

One of the goals linked to exploring the solar system planets is to look for signs of life, be it past or present. More so, one of the best hopes of discovering it is to scan if water that exists on certain stars.

Saturn's 'Enceladus' Icy Moon

As such, the icy moon of Saturn called Enceladus can be cited. Under the thick layer of ice are bodies of water that may be concealing secrets.

NASA is convinced of this. Specifically, when the Cassini probe flew over the region in the early 2000s, it detected interesting molecules in the moist of Enceladus, specifically methane, which is frequently linked to life.

However, to hope to explore someday Enceladus's aquatic depths, as well as other similar stars, there is a need for the right equipment, and that's what the space agency is currently working on.

Made to Swim for Space Exploration

Ethan Schaler, a robotic mechanical engineer at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has developed a concept consisting of a probe to melt ice on the surface of a planet, then dump mobile phone-sized water drones. The latter mentioned would be able to navigate extraterrestrial waters and extract data.

The project called Sensing With Independent Micro-Swimmers or SWIM is only in its infancy. Its initial stage, intended to perform a feasibility study, was financially backed, amounting to $125,000, a similar Meta Jaun News report said.

Now, a second phase financially backed by the Innovative Advanced Concepts program of NASA, amounting to $600,000, involves the design of 3D printed models and having them tested under different scenarios.

In a statement, Schaler said that with a swarm of tiny swimming robots, they would be able to explore a much larger volume of ocean water and enhance their measurements by having numerous robots collect data at the same site.

NASA summed up the project's objective to lessen risk while enhancing science. A device called "Cryobot" will be immersed in water and released by the SWIM drones.

The said device will gather and transmit the information to some transmission tower on the ice's surface.

Drones in Space

According to a related Space Chatter report, even though NASA has great ambitions for this project, the fact remains that a very early development stage. In the meantime, he is not connected with any planned mission, suggesting that if he reaches the finalization stage, it will not be exploited before the horizon in 2030.

In 2024, the Europa Clipper mission will leave Earthbound for the Jovian Moon, which will wait until 2030. The goal of this mission will be to gather information on this star, which NASA suspects of harboring life.

Scientists worldwide believe that a massive ocean is hiding beneath the thick layer of ice covering Europa.

Probably, it is in Europe that this ambitious project of Schaler will take its initial steps or, instead, its initial fathoms in the decades ahead.

A report about NASA's Cryobot is shown on SpaceChatter's YouTube video below:

Check out more news and information on NASA and Robots in Science Times.