Read more at source.
Read more at source.
The SWIM (Sensing With Independent Micro-swimmers) project is a pioneering initiative led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The project aims to send a fleet of small autonomous underwater robots into the internal oceans of ice moons. These robots are currently being tested at the California Institute of Technology's 23-meter swimming pool.
Among the ice moons of Jupiter and Saturn, several have vast oceans beneath their thick ice shells. These moons, collectively known as the ocean worlds, are of significant interest to astrobiologists. The most famous example is Europa, which has a diameter of about 3,120 kilometers and is covered by a thick ice shell estimated to be about 3 to 30 kilometers thick.
Europa's internal ocean is a result of tidal heating, a process where the moon's shape is deformed due to Jupiter's gravity, creating friction and generating heat. This heat melts some of the ice, forming a vast internal ocean beneath the moon's thick ice shell. The ocean is salty, estimated to be about 100 kilometers deep on average, and has a total volume of water twice that of all Earth's oceans, despite Europa being considerably smaller than our planet.
The search for extraterrestrial life has led scientists to the icy moons of our solar system. With the SWIM project, we are on the brink of exploring the vast internal oceans of these moons, opening new frontiers in our understanding of potential life-bearing environments beyond Earth.
