In 1984, Thomas Pierson and Jill Tarter incorporated the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute.  SETI began as a research center branched off from NASA that has brought together some of the greatest scientific minds in modern history.  Scientists like Carl Sagan, Barney Oliver, Frank Drake, and John Billingham were some of the original researchers joining the SETI team.  According to SETI’s website, “The mission of SETI Institute is to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence.”  Today, 35 years after it’s incorporation, SETI has reached countless scientific milestones.  But their research extends far beyond the parameter of searching for signs of extraterrestrial life.

A new program run by Pascal Lee, Senior Planetary Scientist at SETI, is aiming to find ways to further explore the terrain of Mars and the Moon.  Pascal is also the Chairman of the Mars Institute and the Director of NASA Haughton-Mars Project.  His expertise is in the researching of water on the surface of Mars as well as the planning of future human exploration of Mars.  Much of his work has been conducted in the Arctic and Antarctica as they are environments that closely align to those found on Mars.  

On March 19, 2019, from the warmth of SETI Institute’s headquarters in Mountain View, CA news of Lee’s latest mission was announced.  This mission brought him and his team to the Myvatn region of Northern Iceland, an area known for it’s volcanic terrain.  Specifically, the team set out to explore the Lofthellir Lava Tube Ice Cave with the use of drones.  Lee said, “We went to Iceland to study a lava tube with massive amounts of ice inside it to understand better both the potential hazards and opportunities presented by the many lava caves we hope to explore on the Moon and Mars.”  Like the environments Lee had studied in the Arctic and Antarctica, this ice cave provided the team with conditions similar to those that have been discovered on both the Moon and Mars.

These caves that have been found on the Moon and Mars could one day serve as temporary shelters for human explorers or equipment storage sites.  Some of these caves may even be cold enough to collect water ice through cold-tapping.  This could go on to provide hydration for explorers, a substance to be converted into rocket fuel, and support research on extraterrestrial life.  But finding ways to safely explore these caves has been a problem that can now be solved with drones.

Drones have proven themselves valuable tools for jobs that are too dangerous or inaccessible to humans.  So why not use them to explore these caves?  SETI teamed up with Astrobotic, a private company that creates LiDAR mapping technology for drones to be used in space exploration.  Andrew Horchler, Director of Future Missions and Technology at Astrobotic said, “Small free-flying spacecraft might be the ideal robotic platform for the exploration of lava tubes on Earth, the Moon, and Mars for the simple reason that they would not need to come in direct contact with any of the rough and potentially unstable surfaces found inside caves and lava tubes.  Nimble drones could enter, map, and exit caves quickly, returning from the darkness to send data back to Earth, return a sample to the surface, recharge and refuel.”

That is exactly what the Lee’s team did in Iceland.  They used the drone built by Astrobotic to enter the Lofthellir Lava Tube Ice Cave, and within minutes they had an in depth, 3D view of all the wonders of the cave.  Lee went on to say, “The Astrobotic drone and LiDAR performed exactly as we had hoped, and was able to help us map the Lofthellir Lava Tube in 3D within minutes.  We now have a highly accurate model of the shape and dimensions of the cave, and of the configuration of its many rocky and icy features, such as rock falls, ice columns, and micro-glaciers.”

While this drone worked perfectly in the environment in Iceland, there would of course need to be some modifications for one used in a lunar environment.  The main modification would have to take into account that there is virtually no atmosphere on the moon.  Rather than using propellers or brushless rotors to fly as an earth bound drone does, one bound for the moon would have to rely on a system of thrusters.  However, the navigation system built by Astrobotic called AstroNav will give a drone the ability to operate autonomously with the use of LiDAR and stereo vision to successfully map the wonders hidden in the caves found on Mars and the Moon.  Though they are getting much closer, Horchler did say, “More development work will be needed to create a system that’s ready for the Moon or Mars, but the study of this icy lava tube is an important first step for us.”

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