A “swarm” of tiny robo-fish developed by NASA could soon be hunting for alien sea creatures in oceans on the moons around Jupiter and Saturn.
NASA scientists have shared a demonstration of the prototype SWIM robots – designed to withstand outer space seas that humans have never swam in.
SWIM, which actually stands for Sensing With Independent Micro-swimmers, is scheme intended to discover life beyond our planet.
Jupiter’s Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus have been identified by scientists as showing signs of past or present life.
The machines are built for harsh, overworldly climates, and yet measure just 16.5 inches and weigh five pounds.
However, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA, has said that the final version will be three times smaller, about the size of a smartphone.
NASA’s Ethan Schaler said: “People might ask, why is NASA developing an underwater robot for space exploration?”
“It’s because there are places we want to go in the solar system to look for life, and we think life needs water. So we need robots that can explore those environments — autonomously, hundreds of millions of miles from home.”
“It’s awesome to build a robot from scratch and see it successfully operate in a relevant environment,” Schaler added.
“Underwater robots in general are very hard, and this is just the first in a series of designs we’d have to work through to prepare for a trip to an ocean world.
“But it’s proof that we can build these robots with the necessary capabilities and begin to understand what challenges they would face on a subsurface mission.”
NASA’s Europa Clipper craft set off on October 14, and will fly to Jupiter’s moon Europa.
The space craft is expected to make it to Europa in 2030 and will fly by the moon 49 times.
