May 31 2007
From The Space Library
NASA announced that the Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer (DEPTHX)—a 3,300-pound (1.65- ton or 1.5-tonne or 1,497-kilogram) computerized underwater vehicle, which NASA had funded—had successfully navigated the Sistema Zacaton cenote in Mexico, one of the world’s deepest sinkholes. DEPTHX had used more than 100 sensors, 36 on-board computers, and 16 thrusters and actuators, to determine where to swim, what samples to collect, and how to return home. On 26 May, operating autonomously, the underwater craft had dived repeatedly into the Zacaton to collect samples of water and a sample of the biofilm coating the cenote’s walls. Traveling to a depth of 1,099 feet (335 meters), the craft had penetrated deeper into the sinkhole than human divers could ever reach. On 28 May, DEPTHX had again explored Zacaton using Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, a novel form of three-dimensional navigation, to map the cenote. NASA intended to apply the autonomous scientific operations and the autonomous navigation and mapping technologies to a new generation of planetary robotic systems. NASA anticipated that the new technologies would also have benefits on Earth, helping to advance medical therapies or enabling safety inspectors to examine underwater dams and drilling platforms remotely.
NASA, “NASA Robot Completes Test Drive of Exploration Capabilities,” news release 07-218, 31 May 2007, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2007/may/HQ_07128_DEPTHX.html (accessed 24 March 2010).
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