Accessing an Alien Ocean: the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS)
Plumbing the depths of the Enceladus and possibly Europa plume vents for liquid water, searching for extant life. Descending crevasses in ice sheets on Earth to discover the fate of melt water runoff and its effects for Earth science. The Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor or EELS robot architecture is designed to carry the latest instruments into these dynamic arenas in search of life. It is adaptable to traverse ocean world inspired terrain, fluidized media, enclosed labyrinthian environments and liquids. It is a snake-like self-propelled endoscope form comprising serially-replicated segments with encapsulated locomotion and bending. We are building first of its kind Archimedes screw propulsion units that act as tracks, gripping mechanisms, and propeller units under water. With EELS we can finally address the civilization-level science question in our own cosmic backyard: Are we alone?