A submarine mission to Europa?

Question

I read an article a while ago about how scientists want to send a submarine to jupiters moon Europa to search for underwater life;
The article told of how it would melt its way through the thick ice but I could not locate that same story again and I just thought I would ask, What is your opinion on this, Possible? Or not possible?
Science shows it can be done, They will be testing in an antartic lake in 2008 and 2009 to see if its possible,,;
Whats your thoughts?

Here is a short description of the program testing, and the concept,

http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn13081-antarctic-robot-to-test-waters-for-jupiter-moon-mission.html?feedId=online-news_rss20

And another that tells about the concept on Europa;

http://scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JAEEEZ000020000003000200000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=yes


Its a boring day here,

Nasa is deciding between three different ice moons to send an exray probe to study the thickness and if there is water beneath them and will decide which it will be in 2015 or 2020, i just read this while studying these links they have dedicated a mission but have to decide which moon it will be,

You are so right in your assumption Brant, It will be no easy feat for sure and I would do exactly as you would,, Forget everything and spend my time on a Nasa site,

Answer 1

Of all the possible missions in the solar system, this is one that I have wished to see for years. Now that we have found life on earth, which is capable of existing at great depths, solely on the energy of thermal vents, then such a precedent justifies going to Europa. If its core is fairly large, it might be constantly subjected to tidal stresses of Jupiter, creating a situation analogous to what happens on Io, only underwater.

Getting through the ice is not a trivial problem. We do have a good lab here, with 14,000 ft thick ice packs in Antarctica. Still, that's not as deep as the ice on Europa. And then a lot has to do with the depth of the water. The core might be too deep for any kind of life to evolve there.

But still, I'd love to see it. I would be glued to the NASA or JPL site. I might even go so far as to turning on a television if there was coverage on the airways.

Answer 2

Hey Spaceguy. I haven't had a chance to really read into it yet. I will do so when I have more time, but what I did read, so far, was talking about the problems they will have, deploying a parachute to get to the surface of the moon. As I said, I will read up on it this evening when I get back, and contact you via email. I Googled "Submarine on Europa" and a bunch of stuff came up.

Answer 3

I think it is theoretically possible but we are not making those kinds of investments in interplanetary research these days, unfortunately.

We would have to be extraordinarily cautious in sterilizing the probe before launching it - we would not want to contaminate the Europan oceans with Earth microorganisms carried through space.

Great question! KEEP STUDYING SCIENCE! George W. Bush is Anti-Science and the worst President in modern American history.

Answer 4

Yes: I can just see a Type 688 Nuclear Sub lashed onto the
side of a huge rocket down at the Cape getting ready for blast off. I wondered what all that activity was all about.

Answer 5

The evidence that liquid water exists on Europa is inconclusive at best. Even if it did exist, it's possible that it's "slushy," or in the form of plastic, "semisolid" ice, like that found deep underneath the antarctic ice sheet.