NASA has unveiled plans to launch a swarm of cellphone-sized robots that could search for alien life on other planets.
These robots can be launched through the ice shells of distant moons and swim in unexplored waters, speeding up the search for life.
NASA’s innovative idea is part of its Swimmer Independence Indie (SWIM) exploration concept.
According to The Independent, the concept was created to learn more about uninhabitable objects like Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
Phone-sized robots will be launched in a probe that can melt the ice shells of different satellites.
A mechanism would then release them underwater, where they could be measured in harsh environments.
“Where can we take microrobots and apply them in interesting new ways to explore our solar system?” asked robotics mechanical engineer Ethan Schaler.
Schaler received a $600,000 grant from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts to study the program’s feasibility and design options.
They hope to build a 3D-printed prototype within the next two years.
“With a swarm of small swimming robots, we were able to explore larger volumes of seawater and improve our measurements by having multiple robots collect data in the same area,” Schaller said.
NASA says the unique design of small robots will help search for signs of alien life.
The robots will also be used to assess the potential habitability of distant planets.
The swarm will be equipped with a propulsion system and host sensors that allow it to move quickly after landing.
“What if, after so many years into the ocean, you go through the ice shell to the wrong place?” said SWIM scientist Samuel Howell.
“What if there are signs of life there, but there is no sign of life where you enter the ocean?
“By bringing these swarms of robots to our side, we’ll be able to see ‘there’ and explore more environments than a single cryobot would allow.”
NASA has yet to plan a mission with SWIM, but the robots could be part of a 2024 payload mission.
The mission will reach Jupiter’s moon in 2030, where tiny robots are expected to collect data.
