From snow to a glacial shaft.
EELS prototypes use rotating screws for propulsion and traction. Lidar and stereo cameras in the sensor head provide three-dimensional mapping. Official records document tests in snow, at an ice rink and on a glacier.
One name, different tests.
The object lowered into the glacier in the 2022 record was a sensor head. The 2023 records include different prototypes, with version 1.5 used to test subsurface autonomy software. Preserve the date, version and test object when interpreting each image.
The next move in an unfamiliar passage.
Exploration of Enceladus remains a mission concept. For terrestrial tasks, these records suggest a research question: when passage geometry and contact conditions are uncertain, how can a robot assess whether its observations justify the next move? This is an editorial question, not a claim of completed engineering validation.
Sources
Factual descriptions refer to the listed public sources. Method transfer and further research questions are editorial discussion.