A team of American scientists and engineers in Antarctica are testing a robot they plan to one day send into space in the search for life.

The NASA-funded project is linking up with a New Zealand research team on the Ross Ice Shelf. The Kiwis are drilling through more than 300 metres of ice to study the ocean underneath, a perfect opportunity for the Americans to test their prototype.

Astrobiologist Britney Schmidt and her team from the Georgia Tech in Atlanta have built Icefin, a 3.5-metre-long autonomous vehicle custom-built to dive under ice and reveal what lives in the ocean beneath. It's equipped with sensors, cameras, sonar and as much scientific technology as they're able to squeeze on board.

"It has the capabilities to travel and navigate on its own, but we also can take control of the vehicle with the controller," Icefin lead engineer Matt Meister told Newshub.

The controller comes from a Playstation, and that gives a clue about the age of the team. The oldest is 35 while all the rest are in their 20s.

There's a good reason for that; in 20 to 30 years, a version of Icefin will be sent into space.

"For NASA one of the big questions is, are we alone? Is there life out there?" Assistant Professor Schmidt said.

"One of the most interesting places we think about exploring that question is a moon of Jupiter called Europa."