Mission to Europa

[CrusaderFrank]

NASA should work on a mission to Europa that combines a nuclear powered drilling machine capable of punching through 5 miles of ice with a submersible instrument package that can relay signals to an overhead satellite which would then retransmit the data gained from cruising the oceans back to Earth.

 

[Dante]

But first we need to follow up on Moon Settlement Gingrich

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

They'll have to get past this first.

NASA chief says agency's goal is Muslim outreach, forgets to mention space

 

[Dante]

NASA should work on a mission to Europa that combines a nuclear powered drilling machine capable of punching through 5 miles of ice with a submersible instrument package that can relay signals to an overhead satellite which would then retransmit the data gained from cruising the oceans back to Earth.

We can't trust NASA. They believe in Global Warming and man's contributions to it

 

[Dante]

They'll have to get past this first.

NASA chief says agency's goal is Muslim outreach, forgets to mention space

In an interview last month on Al-Jazeera, NASA chief Charlie Bolden said that one of NASA's foremost tasks is to engage with Muslim nations. The White House disagreed, suggesting that the agency should perhaps focus on space exploration.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

They want to. Been experimenting in pristine ice covered lakes on how to drill and investigate there without contaminating the untouched enviroment on Europa.

"The first core of freshly frozen lake ice was obtained on 10 January 2013 at a depth of 3,406 m (11,175 ft).[11][12] However, as soon as the ice was pierced, water from the underlying lake gushed up the borehole, mixing it with the Freon and kerosene used to keep the borehole from freezing.[13][14][15][16] A new "clean" borehole was drilled and an allegedly pristine water sample was obtained in January 2015.[14] The Russian team plans to eventually lower a probe into the lake to collect water samples and sediments from the bottom. It is hypothesized that unusual forms of life could be found in the lake's liquid layer, a fossil water reserve. Lake Vostok contains an environment sealed off below the ice for millions of years, in conditions which could resemble those of the hypothesized ice-covered ocean of Jupiter's moon Europa."
Lake Vostok - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Been using Vostok as a simulator for Europa. Figuring out how to drill and get samples without contaminating it.

"Mission to Europa: Nasa announces funding to send probe to Jupiter's ice moon"
Nasa announces funding to send probe to Jupiter's ice moon Europa

"Until now, the spacecraft - named the Europa Clipper - had only been considered a concept for the last 15 years but it has now been given the green light to move to concrete planning with total available funding of $255m (£169m) over the next five years."

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

They'll have to get past this first.

NASA chief says agency's goal is Muslim outreach, forgets to mention space

In an interview last month on Al-Jazeera, NASA chief Charlie Bolden said that one of NASA's foremost tasks is to engage with Muslim nations. The White House disagreed, suggesting that the agency should perhaps focus on space exploration.

NASA's Muslim Outreach | RealClearPolitics

 

[CrusaderFrank]

NASA should work on a mission to Europa that combines a nuclear powered drilling machine capable of punching through 5 miles of ice with a submersible instrument package that can relay signals to an overhead satellite which would then retransmit the data gained from cruising the oceans back to Earth.

We can't trust NASA. They believe in Global Warming and man's contributions to it

Right. We will zero out all AGWCult funding and get NASA back into space. Under Obama NASA is nada

 

[Dante]

NASA should work on a mission to Europa that combines a nuclear powered drilling machine capable of punching through 5 miles of ice with a submersible instrument package that can relay signals to an overhead satellite which would then retransmit the data gained from cruising the oceans back to Earth.

We can't trust NASA. They believe in Global Warming and man's contributions to it

Right. We will zero out all AGWCult funding and get NASA back into space. Under Obama NASA is nada

Can't trust those damn NASA librils

Global Warming

 

[Steven_R]

The problem isn't Muslims, but engineering. You have to be able to send a probe half a billion miles. Once it gets there, you're going to have intense radiation for Jupiter to contend with. So now your probe that has sat for a minimum of five years in cold storage is going to have to wake up, land on a world that is only a few degrees above absolute zero on the surface, and get through the ice. Five miles isn't going to be a problem, but the other 95 might be. How do you get through that much ice? Drilling? Explosives, melting? Remember every ounce of equipment you put on this probe is another ounce you have to send to Europa in the first place. And what if you pick an area, start going through the ice and hit a rock? Is it game over or do you have plans (and equipment) for that eventuality? Once you get through the ice, then what? How do you ensure there is zero contamination? You can't have 99%, but you must have no contamination at all. And how do you get results back to Earth? Any surface station will still need to be in contact with an aqua probe. Is it tethered? Radio? what? How do you build a surface station to stay operational in the unbelievable cold and radiation on the surface? Is there also an orbiter?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

We need to send a communications probe first so the submersible would have a way of up linking the information so it can be dialed back to Earth. That probe can do an initial inspection and search for cracks and fissures that would be likely landing spots for the drill/sub combo.

The drill would be diamond studded shaped similar to those used to tunnel through rock on Earth. Ideally there would be a way for it to adjust to the materials its drilling so it avoids hard rock and steers toward ice. The mechanics of it us mostly torquing around a drive axle. Since Europa's gravity is 13% of Earth I think the drill can be scaled to fit in the payload.

I think the vast array of fissure indicates ice 5 miles thick rather than 100 but that could be wishful thinking on my part

I'm not sure about the uplink. That's the real hard part. Maybe leave the uplink on the surface and have a er, 5 mile, tether line. Hmm, that gets ugly. Maybe the drill and sub make a roundtrip to ocean then back to the surface to transmit.

 

[Steven_R]

Why drill when you can melt your way through the ice? Drilling might be faster, but requires all kinds of extra weight for that equipment and all kinds of things can go wrong.

 

[Mr. H.]

This is a decent flick...

Europa Report (2013) - IMDb

 

[CrusaderFrank]

This is a decent flick...

Europa Report (2013) - IMDb

I wasn't aware of it. Will have to look it up

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Why drill when you can melt your way through the ice? Drilling might be faster, but requires all kinds of extra weight for that equipment and all kinds of things can go wrong.

As long as you're always drilling through ice, sure, but when you hit rock you can drill through more readily

 

[sealybobo]

NASA should work on a mission to Europa that combines a nuclear powered drilling machine capable of punching through 5 miles of ice with a submersible instrument package that can relay signals to an overhead satellite which would then retransmit the data gained from cruising the oceans back to Earth.

Look up tardigrade and see how they can survive extreme hot and cold. I have a strong feeling they live in europa