In an effort to look for alien life in outer space, NASA granted $100,000 for a robot project. This huge robotic squid will drill on Jupiter's largest moon, Europa, to look for extraterrestrial life in its frozen seas.
As part of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, a "bio-inspired" soft rover with tentacles will be designed. This robot will harness power from magnetic field alterations not from solar or nuclear power.
Europa Exploration
NASA is interested in learning about Jupiter's moon since it contains a huge amount of liquid on its surface. Data from Hubble Space Telescope revealed that the south polar region reveals plumes of water vapor. Past research also suggests that there is twice as much water in Europa as there is on Earth.
Given this fact, it is highly likely that the planet harbors living organisms. Plus, Jupiter's moon has an atmosphere which means that it has a water cycle and even clouds. However, there is a big catch -if there is life on Europa, it would be different from earth's life forms.
Due to the cyanide clouds, the level of radiation on the surface is too high to sustain human life. Since the surface of the seas is mostly frozen, having a robot capable of drilling is a must.
Alien Life
Given the interest in alien life in Europa, NASA plans to launch the rover in 2020. The mission of the rover would be to look for nitrogen -a vital indicator of life. As reported by Big Think, Scientists are not sure if the rover can move after it lands on Jupiter's moon. Hence, they came up with the idea of drilling into the frozen sea to obtain a fresh sample.
Probing these seas may revolutionize the earth's current knowledge of biology. This could also lead to the discovery of an entirely new organism that feeds on electromagnetic energy. According to Georgia Institute of Technology planetary scientist Britney Schmidt, it is unrealistic to expect to "find a fish." According to her statement in Science Recorder, it would be more realistic to find essential biogenic molecules during the drill. These molecules are essential to living organisms and they could indicate the existence of alien life in space.
