Posted on 02/11/2017 8:09:24 AM PST by BenLurkin
Stay away from Europa? No way. It’s just too fascinating a place with its jigsaw-puzzle ice sheets, crisscross valleys, miles of ice on top and a warm, salty ocean below. The movie was prescient — if you’re going to search for life elsewhere in the solar system, Europa’s one of the best candidates.
While we’ve sent spacecraft to photograph and study the icy moon during orbital flybys, no lander has yet to touch the surface. That may change soon. In early 2016, in response to a congressional directive, NASA’s Planetary Science Division began a pre-Phase A study to assess the science value and engineering design of a future Europa lander mission. In June 2016, NASA convened a 21-member team of scientists for the Science Definition Team (SDT). The team put together set of science objectives and measurements for the mission concept and submitted the report to NASA on Feb. 7.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
Obligatory Dave ping.
IIRC, we haven’t put a lander on Europa because we don’t want to accidentally put Earth bacteria there?
those look like the MidAtlantic Ridges on any map I ever seen. That ice is definitely moving like tectonic plates. That means there’s liquid under there and life near the underground volcanic tubes that provide warmth.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it was at least as intelligent as a dolphin or a whale.
It would be pretty bad if a far future mission discovered bacterial life on Europa, but we had no way to determine if it was indigenous or something we left there in an earlier mission.
Looks cold and nasty to me.
I am fascinated that scientists keep looking for life elsewhere rather than dealing with life here
The unanswered question is what does it look like in the liquid ocean miles below the ice surface?
What’s that on the left behind the Starbucks?
Dark.
Ii don’t know what became of that.
Not at all.
or Nancy Pelosi?
Nah. Not as intelligent as a whale or dolphin, but maybe close to a California democrat. Underwater, no air, in the dark, cold as a witch, near a fume hole — yup, a democrat.
That’s because they’re looking for signs of intelligent life...
What’s with the grey vertical bar in the center - did the camera catch the monolith edge-on?
Ba da bing
Fascinating post. Thanks.
>> those look like the MidAtlantic Ridges on any map I ever seen. That ice is definitely moving like tectonic plates.<<
Probably... <<
>> That means there’s liquid under there<<
Yes...
>> and life near the underground volcanic tubes that provide warmth. <<
Non-Sequitur
>>I wouldn’t be surprised if it was at least as intelligent as a dolphin or a whale. <<
WTF?
That's the ironic thing. If there wasn't life on Mars before, there is now...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.