Abstract EANA2026-56

The exploration of icy ocean worlds such as Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s moon Europa represents one of the major challenges of astrobiology and planetary robotics. Subsurface aquatic environments on these ocean worlds are hypothesized to contain physicochemical gradients associated with hydrothermal activity, water-rock interactions, redox disequilibrium, and potentially biologically relevant processes. Within the framework of the TRIPLE project, we present the AstroBioNose concept, a compact multimodal sensor payload for autonomous underwater navigation and point-of-interest (POI) identification in extraterrestrial oceans beneath ice shells.

Rather than relying exclusively on coordinate-based navigation, AstroBioNose introduces a chemically and physically informed navigation strategy inspired by biological chemosensing systems. The concept combines multiple environmental indicators—including chemical gradients, redox signatures, pH, conductivity, dissolved gases, turbidity, temperature anomalies, pressure/depth variations, flow dynamics, and optical signals—into a unified probabilistic evidence framework for autonomous decision-making. This approach is designed to help a miniaturized underwater vehicle (nanoAUV) to prioritize and navigate toward scientifically relevant targets even in environments where global positioning, prior maps, or continuous communication are unavailable.

The payload integrates miniaturized electrochemical, optical, and physical sensors together with multimodal data fusion and adaptive navigation logic. Candidate regions of interest include hydrothermal vents, redox interfaces, chemically stratified boundary layers, ice–water interaction zones, brine-rich microenvironments, sediment interfaces, particle plumes, and possible regions exhibiting localized thermodynamic disequilibrium which may represent habitability-relevant microenvironments.

Here, we present preliminary results from chemical-gradient and hydrothermal plume simulations, as well as initial laboratory investigations of multimodal sensors within a controlled water-tank testbed. The experiments include simulated hydrothermal vent scenarios with temperature anomalies, dissolved chemical plumes, and flow structures. These laboratory studies are used to evaluate sensor performance, plume-detection capabilities, and multimodal environmental characterization under dynamic conditions relevant to icy ocean exploration.

AstroBioNose is intended as a modular technology demonstrator for future autonomous exploration of extraterrestrial oceans. By combining physical and chemical sensing with adaptive navigation strategies, the concept contributes to the development of next-generation autonomous exploration systems capable of exploring potentially habitable microenvironments on Enceladus, Europa, and other icy ocean worlds. Future field campaigns may include Antarctic analogue environments, such as the Dome C region, to evaluate autonomous operation, sensor robustness, clean-access procedures, and navigation strategies under operationally challenging cryospheric conditions.