00:03Before humans ever stepped foot on an alien world, we first send robots to scope it out.
00:08Historically, that's meant sending devices like these, called rovers, to test the atmosphere,
00:13temperature, and general vibe of the place. But someday, in the relatively near future,
00:17that could change, as scientists have developed a robot snake they say can investigate all the
00:22nooks and crannies of alien worlds. This is what NASA engineers are calling the Exobiology Extant
00:28Life Surveyor, or EELS for short. It's basically a robot snake, but it has more bells and whistles
00:33than your average slithering reptile. It can roll around and curl up, even make its way over extremely
00:38slick surfaces like ice. And that's likely going to be a big part of its duties, as researchers are
00:43looking to send this robot to Enceladus, or one of Saturn's icy moons. EELS developers say it's being
00:49built from the ground up to make its way around the ice fence that astronomers believe cover the
00:53moon's surface, and possibly even needing the snake robot to be able to swim through water,
00:57as they believe under the moon's crust, there may be vast oceans. But they're also looking to send
01:02this to other places in the solar system as well, as its machine learning intelligence
01:05and versatility. Make it an ideal explorer.
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