Nasa is developing swarms of smartphone-sized underwater robots designed to explore the oceans of other planets in our Solar System.
The Europa Clipper, which was launched last month, is a space probe with a mission to study Europa, a Galilean moon of Jupiter. Once it reaches its destination in 2030, the spacecraft will prepare to aim its science instruments towards the surface of Europa during 49 flybys, looking for signs that the ocean beneath the moon’s icy crust could sustain life.
Nasa is now developing an ocean-exploration mission concept called SWIM (Sensing With Independent Micro-swimmers), which envisions sending dozens of self-propelled robots under the surface in a bid to carry out exploration in areas that traditional rovers would be incapable of searching. Once delivered to their destination, an ice-melting cryobot would help to create a hole, allowing them to burrow under the icy surface.
“People might ask, why is Nasa developing an underwater robot for space exploration?...