NASA's robotic submarine ENDURANCE was sent into Lake Mendota Tuesday for a series of trials before heading to Lake Bonnie in Antarctica for astrobiology and terrestrial research.
The ENDURANCE's function is to create 3-D maps of lake and ocean floors through advanced navigation and measurement systems. The submarine is a prototype for a probe NASA hopes to send to investigate the frozen oceans on Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.
John Rummel, head of NASA's astrobiology program, said the probe would allow scientists to explore the idea of drilling into Europa's oceans through trials in arctic lakes.
We're learning how to explore under the ice on worlds we've just become aware of,"" Rummel said.
The submarine's name, which stands for environmentally non-disturbing under ice robotic Antarctic explorer, stresses the project's dedication to protecting the untouched arctic environment it seeks to explore.
""There's a really nice synergy between the NASA-funded research which is looking at the astrobiology search for potential life elsewhere and ongoing terrestrial research that's funded by the National Science Foundation,"" Peter Doran, a scientist with the University of Illinois at Chicago in charge of the project, said.
The ENDURANCE project is designed to research both the possibility of creating a probe capable of traveling to Europa in addition to providing information about sub-glacial lakes in Antarctica.
Chief engineer of the project Bill Stone said the submarine is different than any other like it because it is capable of fully functioning without human assistance.
Doran explained the project has several functions that need to be tested before the research team travels to Antarctica for the first time in October of this year.
""We weren't really sure what was going to happen when we put it below the ice, and we didn't want to find out by surprise when we got to Lake Bonnie that there was an issue,"" he said.
Doran chose to conduct the first trial in Wisconsin because of the long-recorded history of ice covers on Lake Mendota.
""The decision to use Lake Mendota was actually a little risky. We were going to go further north to Trout Lake, but the advantage of Madison is it's a real city with a lot of facilities and a lot of support,"" he said.
According to Stone, while the submarine is in Lake Mendota, it will be tested for its ability to withstand the extremely low temperature.
Additionally, the robot will have its first test-run of mapping a large terrain. Stone said the goal for the submarine is to create a one-kilometer map of Mendota's floor.
The ENDURANCE research team will continue to test the robot in Madison until Friday.
