ENDURANCE (Environmentally Non-Disturbing Under-ice Robotic Antarctic Explorer) is an autonomous underwater vehicle designed to map in three dimensions the geochemistry and biology of underwater terrains in Antarctica.
[2] The principal investigator for the ENDURANCE project was Earth and environmental scientist Peter Doran of the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The vehicle completed two field seasons in Lake Bonney in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica in 2008 and 2009.
[4] NASA hopes to build upon lessons learned during testing for exploring objects in the Solar System known to harbor sizable bodies of water, such as Jupiter's moon Europa.
[1] The future exploration of its internal ocean and search for life are compelling scientific endeavors.