Lake Bonney, an underground lake in the Antarctica, encased in 15 feet (approx 5 meters) of solid ice, was the place where NASA's Environmentally Non-Disturbing Under-ice Robotic Antarctic Explorer (ENDURANCE) passed its designated tests, which are among the last it will undergo before leaving Earth for good and fly towards Jupiter's moon Europa. There, the device will enter below the satellite's crust, in hopes of finding life in the suspected liquid water body below. Though no one can be sure of what's really beneath Europa's surface, NASA deemed the mission as feasible and is now preparing for it.
Already, the robotic probe exceeded expectations, as it discovered a new type of microbes, in a colony deep inside Lake Bonney. The harsh conditions in this place resemble those in outer space, which is why it was selected as the testing grounds for the robot. The machine proved to work flawlessly the second time around, being able to find its way inside the lake, using onboard navigation systems, and being able to detect and avoid all obstructions in its path.
In previous tests, ENDURANCE experienced a series of malfunctions with its engines and sonars, which rendered it barely able to reach the starting point and be recovered by scientists at the University of Illinois, in Chicago. Even as the probe was transported to Antarctica, some of the scientists working on it voiced their concerns regarding whether or not the machine would function properly. But all tests conducted thus far proved successful beyond expectations, and its trials are due to end a few days from now.
If the project is approved, then the robot will be carried all the way to Jupiter and delivered to the planet's most puzzling moon, Europa, where scientists hope to discover microscopic lifeforms in the suspected oceans below the planet's crust. ENDURANCE will then have to prove its ability to navigate potentially hazardous waters and hidden canals, while it attempts to identify microbes or other living microorganisms.
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