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Why would NASA build a robo-eel?

Answer: to explore Saturn’s moon, Titan

NASA is exploring several concepts that might be best suited for exploring Titan, Saturn's moon. The agency unveiled a concept for a submarine in February that would be used to explore Titan’s hydrocarbon seas. NASA’s newest concept is a wormlike watercraft that would draw power from an antenna that harvests energy from nearby changing magnetic fields.

The worm concept was one of 15 selected proposals submitted as part the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, designed to push the bounds of interplanetary exploration.

"The latest NIAC selections include a number of exciting concepts," said Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA headquarters in Washington. "We are working with American innovators to reimagine the future of aerospace and focus our investments on concepts to address challenges of current interests both in space and here on Earth."