Tech Desk 
Dec 03, 2024
NASA is planning to launch a swarm of tiny robot fishes that would swim through the icy oceans of Jupiter and Saturn moons to try to find any kind of footprint that could suggest the existence of alien life. They also have revealed the images of their futuristic prototype SWIM bots.
These bots are designed to gather information about Jupiter and Saturn’s moons' oceans to find any trace of life and explore otherworldly seas where humans have never been.
Sensing With Independent Micro-swimmers (SWIM), this project is focused on Jupiter's Europa and Saturn's Enceladus, as scientists have long believed that they may consist of past or even possibly present life on them.
SWIM project targets Europa and Enceladus in search of extraterrestrial life
This project is entirely aimed at locating any sign of extraterrestrial life; the prototype almost weighs about five pounds and is 16.5 inches.
However, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory claims that the final version will be three times smaller than the size of a smartphone. The prototype is observed to be paddling around a 75-foot competition in the swimming pool at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
Additionally, it consists of four flaps for the steering and two propeller robots to easily navigate underwater.
Most importantly, the robots are designed in a way that they can operate on their own, which is essential considering how far the mission is from Earth.
The robot SWIM will have an underwater acoustic communication system that will allow them to work out their positions and transmit data.
NASA also has tested its digital version of the robots inside a computer system; through this, the agency will have a simulation of a ‘virtual swarm’ of about 5 inches of robots. The situation is to test the robot's capability to survive in the harsh conditions of Europa.
