Overview
- Mostafa Hassanalian’s team at New Mexico Tech published the biomimetic concept on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, and is testing prototypes inside Earth volcanic caves to refine communications and power systems.
- The plan uses a parachute‑delivered spherical “roly‑poly” that would uncurl inside a skylight and release thousands of lightweight, dandelion‑like probes to drift through tunnels on air currents.
- Each microprobe is painted white to stay cool and is designed to harvest energy from motion with piezoelectric materials so it can operate without sunlight and send radio data back.
- Major technical unknowns remain, including whether Martian lava tubes have enough airflow to carry the probes, how far radio signals will reach, and whether fan assists and piezoelectric power will work on Mars.
- Lava tubes can span hundreds of kilometers and offer radiation shielding and possible ice, no robot has entered them yet, and European and U.S. precursor tests on Earth are guiding the next development steps for future missions.