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Posted by baalke on May 31, 2007, 5:19 pm
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May 31, 2007
Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
RELEASE: 07-128
NASA ROBOT COMPLETES TEST DRIVE OF EXPLORATION CAPABILITIES
WASHINGTON - In late May, a NASA-funded robot successfully navigated
one of the world's deepest sinkholes. The mission could be a prelude
to a future mission to Jupiter's moon Europa, believed to contain a
liquid water ocean. The Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer (DEPTHX) is a
3,300-pound, computerized, underwater vehicle that makes its own
decisions. With more than 100 sensors, 36 onboard computers, and 16
thrusters and actuators, it decides where to swim, which samples to
collect and how to get home.
DEPTHX dove repeatedly into the depths of Mexico's mysterious Sistema
Zacaton sinkhole, or cenote, testing a variety of sensors, sonars,
and other equipment. The robot also obtained numerous samples of
water and the gooey biofilm that coated the cenote walls. Reaching
depths of 1099 feet, the battery-powered robot traveled deeper into
the sinkhole than human divers could reach. Though initially operated
on a data-tether, DEPTHX also operated autonomously, without a tether
or human guidance, for up to eight hours at a time.
On May 26, DEPTHX autonomously descended into Zacaton, collected a
wall core sample and safely returned to the surface, all without
scripted instructions. Two days later, again operating without a
tether, DEPTHX further explored and mapped Zacaton, using a novel
form of three-dimensional navigation known as Simultaneous
Localization and Mapping.
Both of these capabilities - autonomous science operations and
autonomous navigation and mapping - will be useful to a new
generation of planetary robotic systems.
Funded by NASA's Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring
Planets program and led by principal investigator Bill Stone of Stone
Aerospace, Inc., Austin, Texas, the project now is ready to take the
next step in Earth exploration.
"The successful tests in Mexico pave the way for a trip to
Antarctica's Lake Bonney in late 2008. There, conditions more closely
resemble those on Europa," said John Rummel, senior scientist for
astrobiology at NASA Headquarters, Washington. "We're learning how to
explore Europa by first exploring analogue environments here on
Earth."
Although NASA's long-term goal is to build a smaller robot that can
function independently on another world, DEPTHX is generating
important new discoveries. For the first time, scientists can collect
specimens from the undisturbed world of sinkholes or other deep
watery environments, bringing back new types of bacteria that one day
may lead to earthly benefits such as advanced medical therapies or
new kinds of materials.
While DEPTHX engineers aimed to build a machine that behaves like a
microbiologist, smaller versions of the robot also might be equipped
as safety inspectors to examine underwater dams or drilling
platforms.
The robot explored the underwater environment and navigated back to
the surface at the end of each day using 500 three-dimensional maps
continually updated in real time on supercomputers built by
scientists at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.
DEPTHX is a $5 million, three-year project that includes scientists
and engineers from Stone Aerospace; Carnegie Mellon University; the
University of Texas at Austin; the Colorado School of Mines, Golden;
the University or Arizona, Tucson; and the Southwest Research
Institute, San Antonio, Texas.
To see learn more about the DEPTHX and other NASA projects, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov
-end-
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