NASA Teases Snake-Like Robot That Could Explore Saturn Moon’s Icy Terrains

In recent years, NASA has stepped up to develop concepts that could one day be used to search for signs of life on other planets. This time, the agency has dreamed up a snake-like robot, bucking the trend of typical wheeled or anamorphic machines.

Dubbed an Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS), the system is essentially a mobile platform that can traverse various terrains and assess the habitability of far-flung destinations, including the icy crust on Saturn’s sixth-largest moon of Enceladus.

According to NASA, the machine—described as a “self-propelled robot”—is made up of multiple segments comprising actuation and propulsion mechanisms powered by electronics.

This allows for the robot to use a first-of-its-kind rotating propulsion system that can act as tracks on the ground, grippers, or even underwater propeller units, thus enabling it to access holes, crevices, and even follow a plume to its ocean source.

Water, sand, rock, and ice are no match for the slithering machine, which bears the incredible ability to change and adapt its shape in accordance with the landscape it’s exploring.

While it has yet to be launched into space, the EELS was recently tested inside the Athabasca glacier and Mount Meager volcano in Canada, as a gauge of the robot’s resilience to extreme conditions and its navigation capabilities.

Going forward, the team behind the innovation hopes to use it for diving further into Enceladus’ crevasses, which could then open up the possibility of the system being used on Martian polar caps or even descending into ice sheets on Earth.

[via Interesting Engineering and Finnoexpert, images via NASA / JPL-CalTech]