NASA believes that robot swarms would help find life on other planets more easily
Foto:
Bill Ingalls/NASA / Getty Images
NASA is studying the possibility of design a swarm of robots that are capable of visiting planets outside our solar system to detect if there is life on them.
The robots, as they have explained, they would be about the same size as a cell phone, so compared to a space probe or telescope they would be relatively tiny. A recently released report suggests that the robots would have a probe capable of melting the ice so that the device can submerge and take measurements of the oceans.
The idea is still in an early stage, so there is no guarantee that it will materialize.despite the fact that scientists from the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory received resources to analyze its feasibility.
As part of this process they must present a 3D model of the probe from which NASA will analyze if it wishes to invest a greater amount of money and time in its development.
“With a swarm of small swimming robots, we can explore a much larger volume of ocean water and improve our measurements by having multiple robots collecting data in the same area,” said Ethan Schalerl, a mechanical engineer specializing in robotics at the lab.
According to the explanation of the experts and the space agency, each of the robots would have its own propulsion system, so they would be autonomous from each other. In the same way and despite their small size, they will also have an ultrasound communications system and sensors with which they will be able to measure temperature, salinity, acidity, pressure and biomarkers present in the environment in which they are located. .
It is speculated that these robots could be part of the cargo that will reach space as part of the deployment of the Europa Clipper mission in 2024. However, there is still no certainty in this regard since it is a mere hypothesis.
With these NASA intends to increase the probability of being able to find life in space, something they have been trying to do for years.
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