View source for Engineering:BRUIE

{{short description|Autonomous underwater vehicle}}
{{Infobox spacecraft class
| name                 = Buoyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration (BRUIE)
| image                = BRUIE_NASA_rover.jpg
| image_caption        = BRUIE prototype 
 
| manufacturer         = 
| designer             = NASA's [[Organization:Jet Propulsion Laboratory|Jet Propulsion Laboratory]]
| country              = US
| operator             = NASA
| applications         = [[Astronomy:Planetary science|Planetary science]], [[Astronomy:Astrobiology|astrobiology]]

<!--Specifications-->
| spacecraft_type      = robotic aquatic rover
| design_life          = several months
| launch_mass          = 
| dry_mass             = 
| payload_capacity     = 
| power                = 
| batteries            = 
| equipment            = 

<!--Dimensions-->
| length               = {{cvt|1|m}}
| diameter             = 
| width                = 

<!----Payloads---->
|capacities            = 
  {{Infobox rocket/payload
  |location            = 
  |kilos               = 
  }}

<!--Production-->
| status               = in development
| built                = 
}}

'''BRUIE''' ('''Buoyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration''') is an [[Engineering:Autonomous underwater vehicle|autonomous underwater vehicle]] prototype by NASA's [[Organization:Jet Propulsion Laboratory|Jet Propulsion Laboratory]].  The prototype began underwater testing in 2012 and it is meant to eventually explore the interior of [[Astronomy:Ocean planet|water world]]s in the Solar System, such as [[Astronomy:Europa (moon)|Europa]] or Enceladus.<ref name='Gough2019'/>

==Overview==

On Earth, aquatic life is often found at the ice-water interface, so researchers designed the robotic rover to be buoyant and use its two wheels ({{cvt|10|in|cm|order=flip}} each) to roll along beneath the ice and look for life or their [[Astronomy:Biosignature|biosignature]]s.<ref name='Morgan_BI_2019'/><ref name='Bartels2018'/> Scientists can also learn a lot from the topography of the underside of the ice, including how the ice forms. And the ice can act as a trap for gases, either from biological or geological processes.<ref name='Gough2019'/>

The first BRUIE prototype began testing in 2012 in an Arctic lake in Alaska,<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013AGUFM.C13C0684B/abstract |title=Remote Under-Ice Roving in Alaska with the Buoyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration |author1=Berisford, D. F. |author2=Leichty, J. |author3=Klesh, A. |author4=Hand, K. P. |journal=AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts |date=December 2013 |volume=2013 |bibcode=2013AGUFM.C13C0684B}}</ref><ref name='Morgan_BI_2019'>{{cite web |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-underwater-rover-hunt-alien-life-on-ocean-worlds-2019-11 |title=NASA is testing an alien-hunting rover in Antarctic waters as part of the agency's plans to send robots to ocean moons of Jupiter and Saturn |first=Morgan |last=McFall-Johnsen |work=Business Insider |date=23 November 2019}}</ref><ref name='Samuelson_2019'>{{cite news |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7543 |title=Aquatic Rover Goes for a Drive Under the Ice |first=Arielle |last=Samuelson |publisher=JPL NASA |date=18 November 2019}}</ref> and in Antarctica in 2019.<ref name='Morgan_BI_2019'/><ref name='Samuelson_2019'/><ref name='Bartels2018'>{{cite news |url=https://www.space.com/underwater-rover-testing-for-icy-moons.html |title=NASA's Undersea Robot Crawls Beneath Antarctic Ice in Test for Icy Moons |first=Meghan |last=Bartels |website=Space.com |date=20 November 2018}}</ref><ref name='Gough2019'>{{cite news |url=https://www.universetoday.com/144109/aquatic-rover-drives-on-the-underside-of-the-ice-in-antarctica/ |title=Aquatic Rover Drives on the Underside of the Ice in Antarctica |first=Evan |last=Gough |work=Universe Today |date=22 November 2019}}</ref> The [[Principal investigator|principal investigator]] is Andy Klesh at JPL; the co-investigators are Kevin Hand, Dan Berisford, John Leichty and Josh Schoolcraft.<ref name='Landau 2015'>{{cite web |url=https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4640 |title=Under-Ice Rover Chills With Fish at Aquatic Exhibit |first=Elizabeth |last=Landau |work=NASA News |date=25 June 2015}}</ref> Astrobiologist [[Biography:Kevin Hand|Kevin Hand]] at JPL is the lead scientist.<ref name='Samuelson_2019'/>

===Description===
The rover resembles a bar {{cvt|1|m}} long, with two large  studded wheels at each end.<ref name='Samuelson_2019'/> BRUIE features cameras, lights, and eventually it will be equipped with wireless communication to remotely navigate autonomously without a tether.<ref name='Samuelson_2019'/><ref name='Landau 2015'/> It can also carry some scientific instruments, which would be incorporated later if preliminary testing goes well.<ref name='Gough2019'/> 

BRUIE uses [[Physics:Buoyancy|buoyancy]] to remain anchored against the ice and resist water currents. The sealed air-filled cylindrical body, along with closed-cell foam inside of cone-shaped wheels, provides buoyancy force to enable roving along the underside of the ice.<ref>[https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012AGUFM.C13E0655B/abstract Buoyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration.] Berisford, D. F.; Leichty, J. M.; Klesh, A. T.; Matthews, J. B.; Hand, K. P. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. December 2012. Bibcode: 2012AGUFM.C13E0655B </ref> In can safely power down to save battery, turning on only when it needs to take a measurement, so it could spend months observing the under-ice environment at time intervals.<ref name='Samuelson_2019'/><ref name='Morgan_BI_2019'/>

===Challenges===

One obstacle facing aquatic vehicles like BRUIE is how to deliver it through the thick ice shell.<ref name='Gough2019'/> On Europa, the ice sheet could be up to {{cvt|30|km}} thick. One preliminary concept for delivering such vehicles through the ice shell is a nuclear-powered tunneling robot called Cryobot, proposed by German engineers.<ref name="ice2019">[http://anstd.ans.org/NETS-2019-Papers/Track-2--Mission-Concepts-and-Logistics/abstract-122-0.pdf An Architecture for a Nuclear Powered Cryobot to Access the Oceans of Icy Worlds.] Thomas Cwik, Wayne Zimmerman, and Miles Smith. Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space, American Nuclear Society Topical Meeting. Richland, WA, February 25 – February 28, 2019.</ref> Heat from nuclear power would melt the ice and the penetrator would propel itself through the hole. Once through, the attached aquatic vehicle could be deployed to explore.<ref name='Gough2019'/> The 2025 ''[[Astronomy:Europa Clipper|Europa Clipper]]'' orbiter will measure the ice shell thickness of Europa, which will help determine if a vehicle pair like BRUIE and Cryobot are a possible next step.<ref name='Gough2019'/>

==See also==

*{{annotated link|Engineering:Autonomous underwater vehicle}}
*{{annotated link|Engineering:DEPTHX}}
*{{annotated link|Engineering:IceMole}}
*{{annotated link|Physics:Radioisotope thermoelectric generator}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://europa.nasa.gov/resources/4/buoyant-rover-for-under-ice-exploration/ BRUIE: Buoyant Rover for Under Ice Exploration.] Video at NASA (2016)

{{Astrobiology}}
{{Extraterrestrial life}}
[[Category:Proposed NASA space probes]]
[[Category:Proposed astrobiology space missions]]
[[Category:Europa (moon)]]
[[Category:Planetary rovers]]

{{Sourceattribution|BRUIE}}