NASA engineers have spent the previous decade growing a rugged, partially autonomous lander designed to discover Europa, considered one of Jupiter’s most intriguing moons. The house company bought chilly toes over the undertaking, however engineers at the moment are concentrating on a brand new vacation spot for the probe: Enceladus.
Europa has lengthy been a major goal within the seek for extraterrestrial biology as a result of scientists suspect it harbors a subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust, doubtlessly teeming with microbial life. However the robotic—filled with radiation shielding, cutting-edge software program, and ice-drilling appendages—gained’t be going anyplace anytime quickly.
In a current paper in Science Robotics, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) outlined the design and testing of what was as soon as the Europa Lander prototype, a four-legged robotic explorer constructed to outlive the brutal floor circumstances of the Jovian moon. The robotic was designed to stroll—versus roll—analyze terrain, acquire samples, and drill into Europa’s icy crust—all with minimal steering from Earth, because of the main communication lag between our planet and the moon 568 million miles (914 million kilometers) away.
Designed to function autonomously for hours at a time, the bot got here outfitted with stereoscopic cameras, a robotic arm, LED lights, and a set of specialised supplies robust sufficient to endure harsh radiation and bone-chilling chilly. Temperatures on the moon vary from about -210 levels Fahrenheit (-134 levels Celsius) at its equator to as little as -370 levels F (-223 levels C) at its poles.
After years of improvement—together with testing in JPL’s labs, superior simulations, and a ultimate discipline trial on icy terrain in Alaska—the Europa Lander aced its exams. It was able to tackle the photo voltaic system’s frosty frontier. However the house company has now pulled the plug on the mission.
Based on the crew, the challenges of attending to Europa—its radiation publicity, immense distance, and quick statement home windows—proved too daunting for NASA’s higher-ups. And that’s earlier than you take into accounts the devastating finances cuts deliberate by the Trump administration, which might see the company’s funding fall from $7.3 billion to $3.9 billion. The lander, as soon as the centerpiece of a daring astrobiology initiative, is now basically mothballed.
However the engineers aren’t giving up. They’re now lobbying for the robotic to get a second shot—on Enceladus, Saturn’s ice-covered moon, which additionally boasts a subsurface ocean and has confirmed extra favorable for robotic exploration. Enceladus remains to be frigid, however has decrease radiation and higher entry home windows than Europa.
Whether or not the ice-walker will get a brand new lease on its semi-autonomous life stays to be seen. However the robotic was constructed for a moonwalk—albeit a comparatively inflexible and clanky one—and it deserves its second.
