Can an autonomous robot find life in the hidden oceans of distant moons?

The Ocean Worlds Life Surveyor is a portable instrument suite built to detect and analyze life within extraterrestrial water samples. This talk examines why autonomous technology is essential for future space missions tasked with identifying microscopic organisms and complex molecules in remote, icy environments.

Developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Ocean Worlds Life Surveyor (OWLS) represents a significant leap in space exploration technology. Unlike previous instruments, it is designed to operate autonomously, a critical requirement for missions where real-time human intervention is impossible. The suite is unique in its ability to scan across multiple size scales, ranging from individual molecules to microscopic life forms.

The project, discussed by researchers Mark Wronkiewicz, Marc Razze, and Nikki Wyrick on September 15, 2022, focuses on the challenges of characterizing life in the vast, hidden oceans found on various moons. By integrating these detection capabilities into a single, portable package, OWLS aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of water samples in extreme environments.

Source: Ocean Worlds Life Surveyor (OWLS) (Live Public Talk)