For other uses, see Endurance (disambiguation).
The Environmentally Non-Disturbing Under-ice Robotic Antarctic Explorer, (ENDURANCE)[1] is a submersible autonomous underwater vehicle designed to map in three dimensions the geochemistry and biology of underwater terrains in Antarctica.[1] The ENDURANCE craft is actually the same as the DEPTHX vehicle, but reconfigured.[1]
The name of ENDURANCE is a backronym in tribute to Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic exploration ship Endurance.
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The craft is currently undergoing testing in Lake Bonney (Antarctica).[1] The lead investigator is University of Illinois at Chicago Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences Peter Doran.[1]
Upon successful completion of testing at Lake Bonney, more tests are planned at Lake Vostok,[1] where a cryobot will be needed to melt several kilometers of ice before ENDURANCE may reach the non-frozen surface of the lake.[2]
NASA hopes to build upon lessons learned during testing for exploring objects in our solar system known to harbor sizable bodies of water,[1] such as Europa. ENDURANCE is anticipated to be a prototype of a submersible vehicle later to become integrated into the Europa Jupiter System Mission.[3]
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