| Carnegie
Mellon University and NASA are working together to send a robot to explore
the Chilean Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Here's
some basic information about the project:
 What
is robotic astrobiology?
Let's start
with the astrobiology part first. Here's a NASA definition of astrobiology
(from http://astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov):
Astrobiology
is the study of life in the universe. It provides a biological perspective
to many areas of NASA research, linking such endeavors as the search
for habitable planets, exploration missions to Mars and Europa, efforts
to understand the origin of life, and planning for the future of life
beyond Earth.
 Since humans
can't physically go to all the places that we want to learn about, we
sometimes have to send robots. Scientists see through the "eyes"
of the robot and learn about the environment through the robot's instruments.
Robotic astrobiology
uses a robot to search for life in remote locations. In the Life in the
Atacama Project, the robot being used for this project, a rover named
Zoë, will be equipped with a number of tools, including various types
of cameras, that allow scientists to explore the Atacama Desert (in Chile)
from the Remote Operations Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
Why
the Atacama Desert?
Located in
Chile in South America, the Atacama Desert is one of the driest places
on Earth. Organisms that call the Atacama their home are subjected to
high levels of ultraviolet radiation from the sun and must survive on
only tiny amounts of water. The Life in the Atacama science team is hoping
to gain understanding about the kinds of life that can exist in such an
extreme environment and how those lifeforms survive.
Why
send a robot, if the Atacama is on here Earth?
One of the
goals of the Life in the Atacama Project is to prepare for the robotic
exploration of other planets, such as Mars. Because of its extreme dryness
and harsh sun, the Atacama is a good place to practice for similar robotic
missions to Mars. Learning about life in the Atacama will help scientists
to understand how life might have once survived on Mars. At the same time,
using a rover to find life in the Atacama will teach us a lot about how
to detect life (or signs that life once existed) on other planets.
The benefit of practicing here on Earth is that a second team
of scientists can go to the Atacama to collect samples without going through
the eyes and instruments of the rover. Their results are compared with
the results from the other science team. This gives us a good idea of
how accurate science can be accomplished through a robot.
For more information about this project, see the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute Life in the Atacama Project website.
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