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Sep 17, 2007 |
DEPTHX - Antarctica
The next stop for a self-navigating robot could be the underwater lakes of Antarctica! music Ambience: DepthX underwater robot You dont have to visit other planets to discover new worlds. Im Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Were listening to the underwater sounds of a self-navigating robot. Scientists hope to use a similar robot to map some of the deep lakes of Antarctica. Because of their location and isolation, the depths of these lakes still hold many secrets. Part of its discovery because we really dont know what were going find, because we havent been there before. We havent been to these different areas of the lake. Peter Doran is an Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Besides doing the mapping of the lake, well also be collecting samples and bringing those samples back to the lab, and so, well be able to collect samples from areas that weve never accessed before. And so, the discovery potential and the potential for scientific advancement in our knowledge of these lakes is huge. But according to Peter Doran, exploring the lakes of Antarctica is just a stop on a journey which could take a robot explorer much further away. It answers a lot of important questions for us doing our terrestrial science, but its also a baby step towards the ice covered ocean on Europa, which is a moon of Jupiter. And you certainly wouldnt just go there without doing any dry runs, but were learning how you map a lake in three dimensions and what the issues are as far as power budgets, and things like that with this vehicle. So, you know, taking it to Antarctica is starting us on that path, hopefully towards Europa. Europa is thought to be one of the most likely places to find extraterrestrial life in our solar system. For more information, check out our website at pulseplanet.com. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation, with additional support from NASA. Im Jim Metzner. Robots,TECHNOLOGY,SPACE Scientist: Peter Doran |
