Nasa to Officially Announce Mission to Europa This Spring!!

Nice.

originally posted by: JadeStar

We also know of a few exoplanets whose density suggests they are made up almost entirely of water.

EDIT: If we can survive long enough as a species to advance that far then we have more than enough resources right here in our own star system to terraform 2 or 3 Earths!

ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE.

www.youtube.com...

originally posted by: Elton
"ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA.
ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE"

originally posted by: stormbringer1701
www.youtube.com...

Here's an intersting bit of film trivia:

The original screenplay for the original 1969 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, as written by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick, did not include Jupiter or Europa. The mission as the script was originally written was supposed to be to Saturn, not Jupiter. However, due to limitations of special effects back in 1969, Kubrick realized that he could not convincingly show Saturn's rings; so, they changed the planet in the script from Saturn to Jupiter.


I suppose that if they used Saturn in the 1969 film as originally intended, then in the 1984 sequel film may have ended with the message being:

"ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT TITAN.
ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE"

There's no way they'll send a human. It would take too long and it's much too cold. I'm very excited about this mission and think we should divert money for wars to money to "boldly go where no man has gone before"! Here's an update:

Europa is ice covered and the outer surface is made up of ice -260F at the equator and -370F at the poles. It is believed the ice crust may be 1 - 20 miles thick! Most scientists believe it has a liquid ocean. It's also 5 times as far from the sun as earth.

Models suggest it could be anywhere from one mile to 20 miles thick. There's indirect evidence that some water is leaking through, perhaps through cracks or plumes of vapor, but that water might come from smaller reservoirs, rather than the ocean itself.

*snip*

The mission might not definitively tell us if Europa has life, but it will answer a number of important questions about the odds of it. Among other things, the probe will seek to confirm the existence of the ocean, collect data on the thickness of the ice, look for evidence of organic molecules on its surface, and hopefully determine if chemicals are cycling back and forth between the interior and the surface.

If the Europa Clipper probe launches in 2025 as planned, it'll enter Jupiter's orbit sometime between 2027 and 2031 (depending on the type of rocket used). Over the course of three years or so, it'll fly by Europa an estimated 45 times — at distances ranging from 15 to 60 miles — exploring different parts of the moon. (The solar-powered craft will be orbiting Jupiter, rather than Europa, because Jupiter's much larger mass means that it's easier to fall into its orbit — allowing the probe to carry much less fuel.)

www.vox.com...

a reply to: StoutBroux

This is why I would rather a mission to Enceladus instead of Europa (as I mentioned in a detail in a post on page 2 of this thread).

We already know that the water coming from Enceladus contains organic molecules because we were able to analyze that water (with the limited instruments on Cassini) as Cassini swooped through the plumes of water-ice coming from the seas or oceans of Enceldus. We also know that the water is salty, like our own oceans, which means there are minerals being dissolved into that sea or ocean, making it more nutrient-rich.

The water on Europa may in fact have similar qualities, but we don't know that for sure. Plus it isn't as easy to sample as Enceladus. Excerpts from your post:

Models suggest it could be anywhere from one mile to 20 miles thick. There's indirect evidence that some water is leaking through, perhaps through cracks or plumes of vapor, but that water might come from smaller reservoirs, rather than the ocean itself.

*snip*

The mission might not definitively tell us if Europa has life, but it will answer a number of important questions about the odds of it. Among other things, the probe will seek to confirm the existence of the ocean, collect data on the thickness of the ice, look for evidence of organic molecules on its surface, and hopefully determine if chemicals are cycling back and forth between the interior and the surface....

On Enceladus, we already know that organic molecules are on the surface because the water-ice geysers that have been confirmed to contain organic molecules fall back onto the surface of Enceladus. Plus, that water can be sampled from space.

a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

I can agree with that because I think we should try and attack ventures to easier places where habitats and organics are already known and kindest to our species. If the purpose is to take advantage of their resources, we should harvest from the least harsh conditions and prevent obvious massive problems because that is common sense.