Voytek on using submarines in possible space exploration
A yellow torpedo prowls the Monterey Canyon, gliding over fields of eerie red and white clams nearly 3,000 meters below the surface. The submarine then slips down deep to survey the little-known creatures sprawled beneath it. Here in the darkness, otherworldly life abounds in the cold, crushing depths of the Pacific.
Scientists from Stanford University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute developed the unmanned sub with funding from NASA. It’s destined to be a key player in larger explorations in much more challenging environments, from the canyon depths to the frozen poles to — perhaps one day — other planets and moons.
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“There’s a lot of interest in exploring ... oceans in other places in the solar system,” said Mary Voytek, head of NASA’s astrobiology program, which funded the project.