NASA recently announced that its new autonomous robotic technologies are capable of exploring ocean worlds like Europa and Enceladus.
NASA has made a significant stride in its space exploration efforts, which can boost research advancements in extraterrestrial life. The agency has developed autonomous robotic technology spacecraft capable of independently and remotely exploring the two most promising candidates to find extraterrestrial life.
According to recent reports published by NASA, the Ocean Worlds Lander Autonomy Testbed (OWLAT) and Ocean Worlds Autonomy Testbed for Exploration, Research, and Simulation (OceanWATERS) will lead its initiatives for exploring Europa and Enceladus ocean bodies. These autonomous spacecraft will play a key role in helping humanity advances its spatial research outputs.
OWLAT was created in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and OceanWATERS was built at the Ames Research Center. These robots will stimulate lander operations in surface conditions of low gravity and icy conditions. OWLAT is equipped with a physical testbed, a robotic arm, and other tools for sampling. OceanWaters will help replicate the environments it gets exposed to into virtual environments that accurately resemble Europa’s conditions.
The role of autonomy is not just in reducing risk to mankind during space exploration. It extends to continue the missions even when the robots face long-term communication breaks, face harsh terrains, and are running on limited resources. The tools provided in OWLAT are interchangeable, making the robot extremely malleable and ready for abrupt challenges faced in these ocean worlds.
OceanWATERS unlocks a range of operations that researchers can execute in the virtual environment replicas. The fault injection system built in both the robotic spacecraft will significantly enhance terrain interaction and sample collection data while automatically preventing and resolving potential system failures.
An advanced Robot Operating System (ROS) will ensure these robots remain within the safety bounds while executing all commands effectively. These advancements will help not only NASA but also its partner space agencies and enlisted nations advance safely toward space exploration to find signs of life on the Moon, Mars, and other planets.
