NASA tests tiny swimming robots to find Alien life, explore oceans on icy Moons; WATCH amazing video

A prototype of a robot designed to explore the subsurface oceans of icy moons glides through a pool at Caltech in September 2024, its reflection visible below the water's surface.

NASA is testing a swarm of tiny underwater robots designed to explore subsurface oceans on icy moons like Europa. A futuristic NASA mission concept envisions a swarm of dozens of self-propelled, cellphone-size robots exploring the oceans beneath the icy shells of moons like Jupiter’s Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus, looking for chemical and temperature signals that could point to life.

A series of prototypes for the concept, called SWIM (Sensing With Independent Micro-swimmers) envisions these cellphone-sized robots diving into alien seas to hunt for signs of life, guided by temperature and chemical signals.

Recent pool tests at Caltech in Pasadena, California, showed these robots can autonomously navigate, correct their course, and even spell out “JPL.”

The prototype used in most of the pool tests was about 16.5 inches (42 centimeters) long, weighing 5 pounds (2.3 kilograms).

As conceived for spaceflight, the robots would have dimensions about three times smaller — tiny compared to existing remotely operated and autonomous underwater scientific vehicles.

Led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the SWIM project was supported by NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program under the agency’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

Work on the project took place from spring 2021 to fall 2024.