NASA’s plans to explore the ice moons of the Solar System are getting more details as the space agency is developing a robot that would use steam to feed in deep space.
In a post on its website, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory notes that researchers are developing a soccer-ball-sized robot known as SPARROW (Autonomous Vapor-powered Recovery Robot for Ocean Worlds) that “would use steam powered to traverse the type of icy terrain found on Jupiter’s moon, Europe, and Saturn’s moon, Enceladus.
“The terrain in Europe is probably very complex,” said Gareth Meirion-Griffith, a JPL robotist and principal investigator of the concept, in the statement. “It could be porous, it could be riddled with cracks, there could be penitents six feet high,” long blades of ice that form in the high latitudes of Earth, “that would stop most robots. But SPARROW has terrain total agnosticism, you have complete freedom to travel through inhospitable terrain. “
Moons In this artist’s concept, a SPARROW robot uses steam propulsion to get away from its landing base and explore the surface of an icy moon. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech)
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Both moons have been cited as candidates for possibly harboring life previously, including a study published in December 2019 that suggested they might be “indigenous.”
By using steam to power the robot, SPARROW could thrive in the “low-gravity environment” in Enceladus and Europe, jumping “many miles over landscapes that other robots would have difficulty navigating,” added NASA.
With its global ocean, unique chemistry, and internal heat, Enceladus has become a promising leader in our search for worlds where life can exist.
(NASA / JPL-Caltech)
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Enceladus and Europe probably have oceans that exist under a layer of ice crust. In 2019, researchers determined that the ocean of Enceladus is probably a billion years old, making it the ideal place to support life.
In 2018, researchers recognized that they had found the “building blocks” for life on Enceladus, by discovering complex organic molecules.
JPL notes that the SPARROW concept relies on a lander to serve as its base of operations. The lander would “mine and melt ice” before putting it into SPARROW, which would then heat it up and create the steam it needs to feed.
Artistic illustration of a column of water vapor emanating from Jupiter’s moon Europa. (NASA / ESA / K. Retherford / SWRI)
(NASA / ESA / K. Retherford / SWRI)
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JPL added that it is possible that “many SPARROWs could be shipped together, swarming through a specific location or dividing to explore as much alien terrain as possible.”
Enceladus is not the only celestial satellite of Saturn that intrigues scientists. In June, NASA announced the last mission in its New Frontiers program. Known as Dragonfly, the mission will explore Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, which could harbor extraterrestrial life.
Two months later, NASA confirmed that it would launch a mission to Europe, a walk that could answer if the frozen celestial body could be habitable for humans and support life.
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