WURZBURG, Germany (ESA PR) — What might look like a dangling hamster ball is actually a robotic sphere to explore the depths of lunar caves.

Designed by a team coordinated by Germany’s Julius-Maximilians-Universität of Würzburg (JMU), the Descent And Exploration in Deep Autonomy of Lunar Underground Structures, DAEDALUS, robot is being evaluated by ESA’s Concurrent Design Facility, as part of a larger study of lunar cave mission concepts.