|
Aug 21, 2007 |
DEPTHX- Practicing for Europa
Research in Mexico may one day lead scientists to one of Jupiter's moons! Music Ambience: DEPTHX Underwater The sound were listening to is from an underwater video recording of the robot known as DEPTHX. Im Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. John Spear is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. John and his colleagues are testing a robot that may eventually be used to explore one of Jupiters moons. But first, they are starting closer to home and sending the robot to Zacatn Cenote, the worlds deepest water-filled sinkhole. So, Zacatn is a place thats filled with water. Its probably 300 meters deep, and its about 100 meters across, and its basically a big cylinder in the ground. So, how that is like Europa is the water portion. Europa is an icy covered moon of Jupiter. No one really knows how thick the ice is on Europa, but its hypothesized to be at least several kilometers. And then, beneath that icecap is believed to be an ocean, because the water has to come from somewhere. And so, if theres an ocean beneath that, and if theres thermal input to that ocean, its potentially liquid water, and liquid water is one of the key ingredients for life. The DEPTHX robot is self-navigating. Designed to explore where humans cannot go, the DEPTHX must create its own map as it goes, using sonar. What Zacatn affords thats similar to Europa is this water-filled environment. It has surfaces that you can do sonar on, which is kind of nice because you need to map that ocean underneath Europa too. Youd want to know are there rocks? Are there mountains, volcanoes? So, DEPTHX can do that by sonar mapping. And so, Zacatn can afford the opportunity to explore a place thats unknown. And that would be just like going to Europa and exploring this ocean thats unknown. Well hear more about the DEPTHX robot in future programs. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation, with additional support from NASA. TECHNOLOGY,SPACE,Data gathering,Robots Scientist: John Spear |
