SHAPESHIFTING SPACECRAFT
Futuristic robotic explorers could seamlessly switch between swimming and spelunking
FUTURE TECH
© Adrian Mann
A team of scientists and engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, are devising a concept mission which could see a swarm of mini-robots exploring worlds beyond our own – and top of the list is Saturn’s moon Titan. This swarm will be like no other mission before it, as it will consist of a team of up to 12 robots that can morph into different shapes to help them roll, fly, float and swim. This team of robots has appropriately been named ‘Shapeshifter’.