Underwater probe to explore Earth and possibly Jupiter's moon(Forwarded)

Southwest Research Institute
PO Drawer 28510
San Antonio, TX 78228-0510

For more information contact:
Joe Fohn, Communications Department
(210) 522-4630

March 1, 2007

Underwater probe to explore Earth and possibly Jupiter's moon

San Antonio -- Scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) are part
of a NASA-funded team developing an autonomous underwater probe to
evaluate technology concepts that eventually may be used to search for
life in the oceans of Jupiter's moon Europa.

The vehicle, called DEPTH-X for Deep Phreatic (pertaining to underwater
rock formations) Thermal Explorer, was integrated and tested in Austin,
Texas, by Stone Aerospace Inc., with funding from the NASA Advanced
Science and Technology for Exploration of Planets program and the NASA
Ames Research Center. Engineers and scientists from SwRI's Automation and
Data Systems Division and Space Science and Engineering Division developed
sensors, machine vision and sample-return technologies for the robot
vehicle under contract with Stone Aerospace.

Before sending a mission to Jupiter's moon, however, the technologies for
autonomous exploration, mapping and life detection are being developed and
tested here on Earth.

DEPTH-X has undergone preliminary tests in above-ground tanks and also in
lakes around Austin. Recent tests included exploring La Pilita, a 310 foot
deep sinkhole located north of Tampico in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
Later this spring it is to be sent to the bottom of a deep, water-filled
sinkhole named Zacaton, also located north of Tampico. There, DEPTH-X will
use its autonomous systems as it dives more than 1,500 feet to the bottom,
gathers and analyzes samples along the way and then finds its way back to
the surface.

If the Zacaton project succeeds, the next development step could be to
send the probe into Lake Vostok in Antarctica, a body of water about the
size of Lake Ontario but which has been sealed off from the outside world
for thousands of years by an ice cap 2.5 miles thick.

Like the Antarctic lake, scientists believe Europa, about the size of
Earth's moon, contains liquid-water oceans beneath an icy crust that is up
to six miles thick. A robot vehicle based on technologies developed on
DEPTH-X might be sent on some future mission to Europa, possibly around
2014, to penetrate the ice and explore the water beneath in search of
microbial life.

"Except for the ice cover, extreme temperatures and remote distance,
Zacaton contains many aspects of the challenging environment that will be
encountered at Lake Vostok or Europa," said Dr. Ernest Franke, an
Institute engineer in the SwRI Automation and Data Systems Division. "The
deeper parts of Zacaton are completely unexplored and unmapped. The
DEPTH-X team is developing new methods for autonomous navigation and
mapping so the robot vehicle can explore the unknown three-dimensional
world and safely return to the surface.

"We suspect that the depths of Zacaton contain microbial life, possibly
including completely new species. DEPTH-X will use its sensors and
analysis equipment to detect and characterize those freshwater organisms
at currently unexplored depths. It will provide not only new knowledge
about Zacaton but also a dress rehearsal for Vostok and, ultimately, for
Europa,' Franke said.

Zacaton is believed to contain hydrothermal vents that would make human
exploration extremely difficult. The deep cavern, with an unknown depth,
may also contain underwater passages, rooms and other navigation hazards
that an un-tethered, autonomous vehicle must avoid as it moves about in
total darkness.

The vehicle is being built by Stone Aerospace with collaboration from
SwRI, the University of Arizona, the University of Colorado, the
University of Texas at Austin and Carnegie-Mellon University.

For images of DEPTH-X, see
http://www.stoneaerospace.com