These Micro-Robots Are Poised to Search for Life on Distant Icy Moons
Europa (L), a moon of Jupiter, and Enceladus (R), one of Saturn's moons, are significant targets for future space exploration missions. (Image: NASA)
NASA scientists and engineers, with the help of Professor Azadeh Ansari and Zhijian Hao from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Georgia Tech, are developing a system known as SWIM (Sensing with Independent Micro-swimmers), a technology envisioned to explore the ice-ocean interface of ocean worlds like Europa and Enceladus.
Europa, a moon of Jupiter, and Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, both show evidence of oceans beneath their icy surfaces. A recent NASA experiment suggests that if life exists in these hidden oceans, organic molecules could survive just below the surface ice, even in the face of intense radiation. This hypothesis suggests that robotic landers searching for signs of life on these moons would not need to dig very deep to find molecules like amino acids and nucleic acids that have withstood radiation-induced changes or destruction.
This illustration shows the NASA cryobot deploying tiny wedge-shaped robots into the ocean miles below a lander on the frozen surface of an ocean world. (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Designing the SWIM System
The SWIM system comprises small, decimeter-scale robots, known as micro-swimmers, designed to swim through these oceans. Working with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory researchers, Ansari and Hao’s recent collaborative research focused primarily on the SWIM system’s design. The robots are shaped like small delta-wing aircraft, which allows them to be efficiently packed into a cylindrical container that is only thirty centimeters in diameter. This container could hold dozens of these robots and would be carried by a larger spacecraft called a cryobot that would drill through the ice and release the robots into the ocean below to explore.
Redundancy Through Numbers
Rather than relying on backup systems for each individual robot, as is common in traditional spacecraft, the SWIM system takes a different approach. By deploying a swarm of these micro-swimmers, a mission remains viable even if some robots fail. This redundancy through numbers makes the system both robust and efficient.
The development of the SWIM system has so far focused on the design, fabrication, testing, and integration of six main components that make up each micro-swimmer: sensors, propulsion, steering, communication, power, and structure. Current prototypes have already been successfully tested in water, achieving speeds of up to 1.2 meters per second.
The Future of Exploring Icy Moons
As work on the SWIM system progresses, these tiny robots will continue to be refined, ultimately paving the way for future missions to explore the hidden oceans of our solar system’s icy moons. If successful, the SWIM system could provide humanity with its first close-up look at one of the most promising environments for life beyond Earth.