NASA is testing a snake-like robot in hopes that it could one day look for life on Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. Developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the 220-pound and 13-foot-long machine is called EELS, or the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor, and it’s designed to be “self-propelled” and “autonomous,” according to a statement from the agency.
While the robot is still undergoing testing and development, engineers hope it will soon independently slither through a variety of planetary and lunar terrains—from undulating sand and ice to steep cliffs, gaping craters, underground lava tubes and even narrow spaces within glaciers.
“It has the capability to go to locations where other robots can’t go. Though some robots are better at one particular type of terrain or other, the idea for EELS is the ability to do it all,” Matthew Robinson, EELS project manager, says in the statement. “When you’re going places where you don’t know what you’ll find, you want to send a versatile, risk-aware robot that’s prepared for uncertainty—and can make decisions on its own.”
Since the robot’s first prototype was produced in 2019, engineers have trialed and revised their design continuously.They tested the robot in a variety of environments—from JPL’s own simulated Martian landscape, called the Mars Yard, to the snowy mountains of Southern California.
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