Robots don't need fresh air and water, or to lug around a bunch of food to keep themselves alive. They do, however, require humans to steer them and make decisions. Advances in machine learning technology may change that, making computers a more active collaborator in planetary science. Last week at the 2022 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, planetary scientists and astronomers discussed how new machine-learning techniques are changing the way we learn about our solar system, from planning for future mission landings on Jupiter's icy moon Europa to identifying volcanoes on tiny Mercury. Machine learning is a way of training computers to identify patterns in data, then harness those patterns to make decisions, predictions or classifications.

Salt water within the icy shell of Jupiter's moon Europa could be transporting oxygen into an ice-covered ocean of liquid water, a new study suggests. Researchers think it could potentially help sustain alien life under the moon's'chaos terrains' -- landscapes made up of cracks, ridges and ice blocks that cover a quarter of the icy world. They believe the amount of oxygen brought into Europa's ocean could be on a par with the quantity in Earth's oceans today. The theory has been proposed before, but University of Texas at Austin-led experts put it to the test by building the world's first physics-based computer simulation of the process. Salt water within the icy shell of Jupiter's moon Europa could be transporting oxygen into an ice-covered ocean of liquid water (pictured in an artist's impression), a new study suggests The theory has been proposed before, but University of Texas at Austin-led experts put it to the test by building the world's first physics-based computer simulation of the process (pictured) Europa is 90 per cent the size of Earth's moon.

Although Jupiter's moon Europa may be one of the places in the solar system to look for life due to its ocean, robots could have to dig further than previously thought to find it, a new study suggests. According to the research, any robot landers that enter Europa's atmosphere will have to dig at least 12 inches down. This is a result of the ice moon being hit with'impact gardening,' a phenomenon that is the result of space radiation hitting molecules and bringing some of them to the surface, while pushing other parts down, mixing with the subsurface. 'If we hope to find pristine, chemical biosignatures, we will have to look below the zone where impacts have been gardening,' said the study's lead author, University of Hawaii at Manoa planetary research scientist Emily Costello in a statement. Jupiter's moon Europa may be one of the places in the solar system to look for life due to its ocean, but robots could have to dig further than previously thought to find it, a new study suggests According to the research, any robot landers that enter Europa's atmosphere will have to dig at least 12 inches down as the ice moon is hit with'impact gardening.'

A fleet of steam-powered robots could one day be used to explore the moons of Jupiter and Saturn by'taking giant leaps across their frozen landscapes'. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory researchers are developing small football-sized spherical robots equipped with steam-powered thrusters for future exploration. If they ever move beyond the initial concept stage, the robots would let scientists explore icy moons such as Europa and Enceladus orbiting Jupiter and Saturn. These moons are thought to harbour salty subsurface oceans of liquid water, but very little is known about their surface - making it a potentially challenging terrain for a traditional moon rover, but easy for a leaping robotic ball powered by steam. The bots, called SPARROW, would run on steam from ice that was collected by mining the surfaces of the moons they explore - rather than'dirty' rocket fuel.

Nasa is working on a nuclear-powered robot to explore Jupiter's frozen moon Europa. It is believed the moon is home to a subterranean ocean which may harbour microbial life. Ice above the ocean is thought to be between 2 and 30 kilometres (1.2 and 18.6 miles) thick and researchers have proposed a tunnelling probe as the best way to penetrate the frosty shell and study its internal structure. Ice above the ocean is thought to be between 2 and 30 kilometres (1.2 and 18.6 miles) thick and researchers have proposed a tunnelling probe (pictured) may be the best way to penetrate the frosty shell Several flybys of the solar system's gas giant between 1995 and 2003 by NASA's Galileo spacecraft alerted scientists to the presence of the water. Researchers agree the best place to look is underneath the thick, planet-wide ice shell where water is in contact with a rocky core.

Future missions to Mars, like the one planned by Nasa for 2020, have a'high chance' of finding microbial life, according to Professor Brian Cox. The physicist, best known for presenting Stargazing Live and Wonders of the Universe, says that these organisms may be more common than we might think in our solar system. Civilisations are another matter, he believes, and it may still be the case that we are alone in the universe as its only advanced intelligence. Future missions to Mars, like the one planned by Nasa for 2020, have a'high chance' of finding microbial life, according to Professor Brian Cox. Finding evidence of life on Mars will almost certainly involve a rover, and scientists admit it will be tough.

Because Jupiter's moon, Europa, has oceans lying beneath its surface, it said to be one of the most likely places in the solar system for life to thrive – researchers just have to burrow through miles of ice to find out. Now, NASA has unveiled a team of robotic prototypes equip with special tools to penetrate the frozen terrain and search for signs of living microbes. The squad of'icebots' includes a machine that tunnels through the icy surface, a folding boom arm, an ice gripping claw and a projectile launcher capable of grabbing samples up to 164 feet away. The team of'icebots' includes a machine that tunnels through the icy surface, a folding boom arm, an ice gripping claw (pictured) and a projectile launcher capable of grabbing samples up to 164 feet away NASA has unveiled a set of robotic prototypes that it said could one day travel to Europa. One prototype was inspired by so-called'melt probes' used here on Earth – dubbed the ice-gripping claw.

NASA is developing artificial intelligence (AI) software that will navigate submarine-like drones through extraterrestrial water worlds. The technology would let these unmanned machines plot their own course based on what is detected in the water around them, looking for signs of microbial life. Scientists hope the system will be able to search in swarms in the icy oceans believed to exist on Jupiter's moon, Europa. NASA is developing artificial intelligence (AI) to navigate submarine-like drones (pictured) through extraterrestrial water worlds. NASA has developed an AI that will be used to power submarine-like drones through extraterrestrial water worlds - specifically Jupiter's moon Europa.