It turns out that submarines may have a great future in space exploration. Subsurface oceans of Jupiter’s moon Europe’s and Saturn’s moon Enceladus are perhaps the most attractive places to look for alien life in the solar system. But these bodies of water remain out of reach, hundreds of millions of kilometers away and under a thick crust of ice.

Now, a European collaboration aims to overcome some of the technological and physical obstacles to future exploration of icy moons and their waters by using Antarctica as a testing ground. The TRIPLE-nanoAUV 2 project (TRIPLE stands for Rapid Ice Penetration and Subglacial Lake Exploration Technologies, while AUV stands for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) is creating ships that can navigate through ice and then release small submarines to explore the darkness. , in the unknown depths of the South Pole or on icy moons.

The nano-AUVs will be very small (19.7 inches (50 centimeters) long and 3.9 inches (10 cm) in diameter), allowing them to be housed inside the ice-melting probe. They will be supported by a Launch and Recovery System (LRS) that will act as an underwater docking station for the UAVs, allowing them to transmit collected data and recharge batteries.

The project is coordinated by the Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, known as MARUM, at the University of Bremen in Germany. The overall coordination of the TRIPLE project pipeline, which includes TRIPLE-GNC and TRIPLE-LifeDetect, is carried out by the German space agency DLR within the scope of the Explorer initiatives.

Aspects of TRIPLE will be combined and jointly tested in a field trial under the Antarctic ice shelf near the Neumayer III station in spring 2026.

The tests themselves will be fascinating, as unknown ecosystems are believed to exist in subglacial lakes beneath Antarctica’s continental ice.

Covered in ice up to 13,120 feet (4,000 meters) thick, accessing these bodies of water is a major challenge, but it is also an excellent testing ground for technologies for future missions to search for life on icy moons.

“Such nanotools can help better understand marine ecosystems in general,” said project leader Ralf Bachmeier. MARUM.

“The new autonomous system is unique and will in the future make it possible to study the global liquid water ocean beneath the icy surfaces of Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Miniaturization is the main challenge in its development; in addition, all components must withstand high pressure under water.”

Examination of Europa or Enceladus would reveal a number of serious problems. This is due to the remoteness of the destinations, extreme temperatures, radiation and other environmental conditions, the great unknown of communications, energy sources, communications with the Earth, and the satellites themselves. But TRIPLE would be the start.

“The aim is to collect experience from DLR Explorer initiatives that can be used in possible international space missions,” explains chief engineer Sebastian Meckel.

“During initial field tests, the melting probe with the integrated nanoAUV as payload will be placed 100 meters into the ice [330 футів]. Additionally, the nanoAUV lacks agility compared to larger autonomous vehicles, meaning its maneuverability is limited. This requires extremely high reliability and close coordination between TRIPLE-GNC and TRIPLE-LifeDetect partners.”

NASA is currently preparing to send the Europa Clipper orbiter to the Jupiter system, scheduled for launch in October 2024. This mission will provide an invaluable boost to our understanding of this icy world, but future missions likely involving systems like ANPA will be needed to penetrate deeper mysteries. Source