Science NASA just announced it'll be visiting this beautiful moon for the first time - Page 2

**Dave Lane** · 02-03-2015, 08:00 PM

The hunt for extraterrestrial life just grew a little hotter.

On Monday, during his State of NASA speech, administrator Charles Bolden announced that NASA would be selecting projects to accompany a probe to Jupiter's moon Europa.

Floating in space about 390 million miles from earth, Europa is a remote ice ball that harbors a massive ocean underneath its surface.

So massive, in fact, that scientists suspect Europa could have as much as two to three times more liquid water than Earth does.

Judging from the abundance of life thriving in Earth's oceans, where there's liquid water, there's the potential for life.

Not only that, Europa is absolutely gorgeous:

Europa is about 1,900 miles in diameter — slightly smaller than our moon. The brown veins that give the moon it's iconic beauty are still a mystery, but the leading theory is that they show where Europa's crust cracked open, letting warmer, dirtier water seep through and then freeze.
Jupiter's strong gravitational tug on the tiny moon generates tidal forces that stretch the entire surface — similar to how the Moon's gravity tugs the water in Earth's oceans, creating tides. The stretching then cracks the crust, letting water deep beneath the surface to seep through.

But that's not the only impact the gas giant has on its moon. As NASA astrobiologist Kevin Hand explains in a video about Europa:

Europa has liquid water because the moon is orbiting Jupiter, and the tidal tug and pull causes Europa to flex up and down — all that tidal energy turns into friction and heat that helps maintain this liquid water ocean beneath an icy shell.

Below is a close-up of the circular impact crater in the southern hemisphere in the image above. Called Pwyll, the impact crater is a relatively new feature on the surface of Europa, and it is also compelling evidence of the enormous ocean sloshing underneath the surface.
Scientists suspect that when the impactor hit, it splattered fresh, fine water ice particles everywhere that now show up as the bright-white arms adorning the moon's face around the darker crater. NASA's Galileo spacecraft — the only probe to fly by Europa more than once — took the image below in 1998 showing the darker crater, which is about 16 miles in diameter.

he impact crater's arms reach far across the surface. Even 620 miles north of the crater you can see evidence of the white streaks in the awesome close-up shot below.
The white and blue colors are the residual ice particles from the blast. Galileo snapped this photo of this region, which is 44 miles wide by 19 miles long, in 1996.

Although Galileo took the most detailed images of Europa we have, astronomers still don't know exactly how much liquid water there is or if life hides underneath the moon's icy shell. That is why, just last year, NASA issued a Request for Information to the scientific community to offer up ideas on the best, economically viable approach to study this amazing moon.
Now, it looks as if some of those ideas might have paid off as scientists look forward to learning more about the future mission to Europa this spring.

According to NASA the mission should complete the following tasks:

Characterize the extent of the ocean and its relation to the deeper interior
Characterize the ice shell and any subsurface water, including their heterogeneity, and the nature of surface-ice-ocean exchange
Determine global surface, compositions and chemistry, especially as related to habitability
Understand the formation of surface features, including sites of recent or current activity, identify and characterize candidate sites for future detailed exploration
Understand Europa’s space environment and interaction with the magnetosphere.
Twitter users expressed their excitement about the latest news:

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-...#ixzz3QjmtNrnU

Hammock Parties · 02-03-2015, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -King-

It's not really hard sci fi....

It's harder than bullshit like Guardians of the Galaxy.

-King- · 02-03-2015, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numbah One

It's harder than bullshit like Guardians of the Galaxy.

Well yeah

But anyways, it was one of my favorite movies of 2014. Very good.

ping2000 · 02-03-2015, 08:53 PM

Let's send Cosmo.

Superbowltrashcan · 02-03-2015, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by listopencil

My hand is up. I admit it. Yep I bought sea monkeys as an 11 year old with money saved from selling Grit newspapers door to door. I was so pissed when I got them and all they ended up being were brine shrimp. No crowns. No families. My first and most lasting lesson in "Buyer Beware".

Looking again at the ad, interesting the strategic placement of limbs, tails, and offspring to cover up sea monkey private parts....

stevieray · 02-03-2015, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easy 6

Its awe inspiring to wonder what kinds of creatures might be swimming around, this could end up being far more exciting than Mars.

Leviathan?

....no thanks.

listopencil · 02-03-2015, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superbowltrashcan

My hand is up. I admit it. Yep I bought sea monkeys as an 11 year old with money saved from selling Grit newspapers door to door. I was so pissed when I got them and all they ended up being were brine shrimp. No crowns. No families. My first and most lasting lesson in "Buyer Beware".

Looking again at the ad, interesting the strategic placement of limbs, tails, and offspring to cover up sea monkey private parts....

I had the plastic aquarium with "viewing ports" that were just distorted plastic that acted as crude magnifying lenses.

**Easy 6** · 02-03-2015, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by listopencil

if thats all it is, then we shouldnt waste the money... I was bored with those little bastards within 10 minutes, even as a very easy to entertain little kid.

And now I see I wasnt the only one expecting some kind of little "family" hahahaaa.

Fish · 02-03-2015, 09:34 PM

"They can even be trained".

That bullshit line pissed me off like you can't imagine...

**Easy 6** · 02-03-2015, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevieray

Leviathan?

....no thanks.

The coolest transmission in the history of space travel would be some creature busting through the ice and dragging our car sized rover under.

Hammock Parties · 02-03-2015, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easy 6

The coolest transmission in the history of space travel would be some creature busting through the ice and dragging our car sized rover under.

There's a great passage in one of the Space Odyssey novels about a Chinese ship landing on Europa and being attacked by a giant underwater beast.

I've actually never read any of those novels but some of the concept art is terrifying.

**Easy 6** · 02-03-2015, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numbah One

There's a great passage in one of the Space Odyssey novels about a Chinese ship landing on Europa and being attacked by a giant underwater beast.

I've actually never read any of those novels but some of the concept art is terrifying.

Looks pretty much like the monster from Europa Report, right down to the glowing spots... thats whats exciting about this, who the hell knows whats up there.

Might just be microscopic organisms and the space equivelant of shrimp... or there might be something quite radical.

**Dave Lane** · 02-03-2015, 09:53 PM

Hammock Parties · 02-03-2015, 09:53 PM

I can only imagine the fear and terror that grips this planet when we discover extraterrestrials for the first time and it turns out to be shrimp.

People will want to eat them.

**Easy 6** · 02-03-2015, 09:58 PM

Ha, that was freakin cool, why havent I seen that before?

Coochie liquor · 02-03-2015, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superbowltrashcan

My hand is up. I admit it. Yep I bought sea monkeys as an 11 year old with money saved from selling Grit newspapers door to door. I was so pissed when I got them and all they ended up being were brine shrimp. No crowns. No families. My first and most lasting lesson in "Buyer Beware".

Looking again at the ad, interesting the strategic placement of limbs, tails, and offspring to cover up sea monkey private parts....

Should spent your money in these instead . Better investment.

02-03-2015, 08:00 PM
Dave Lane Space Cadet and Aczabel Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Kanab, UT, USA Casino cash: $9333275 VARSITY	NASA just announced it'll be visiting this beautiful moon for the first time The hunt for extraterrestrial life just grew a little hotter. On Monday, during his State of NASA speech, administrator Charles Bolden announced that NASA would be selecting projects to accompany a probe to Jupiter's moon Europa. Floating in space about 390 million miles from earth, Europa is a remote ice ball that harbors a massive ocean underneath its surface. So massive, in fact, that scientists suspect Europa could have as much as two to three times more liquid water than Earth does. Judging from the abundance of life thriving in Earth's oceans, where there's liquid water, there's the potential for life. Not only that, Europa is absolutely gorgeous: Europa is about 1,900 miles in diameter — slightly smaller than our moon. The brown veins that give the moon it's iconic beauty are still a mystery, but the leading theory is that they show where Europa's crust cracked open, letting warmer, dirtier water seep through and then freeze. Jupiter's strong gravitational tug on the tiny moon generates tidal forces that stretch the entire surface — similar to how the Moon's gravity tugs the water in Earth's oceans, creating tides. The stretching then cracks the crust, letting water deep beneath the surface to seep through. But that's not the only impact the gas giant has on its moon. As NASA astrobiologist Kevin Hand explains in a video about Europa: Europa has liquid water because the moon is orbiting Jupiter, and the tidal tug and pull causes Europa to flex up and down — all that tidal energy turns into friction and heat that helps maintain this liquid water ocean beneath an icy shell. Below is a close-up of the circular impact crater in the southern hemisphere in the image above. Called Pwyll, the impact crater is a relatively new feature on the surface of Europa, and it is also compelling evidence of the enormous ocean sloshing underneath the surface. Scientists suspect that when the impactor hit, it splattered fresh, fine water ice particles everywhere that now show up as the bright-white arms adorning the moon's face around the darker crater. NASA's Galileo spacecraft — the only probe to fly by Europa more than once — took the image below in 1998 showing the darker crater, which is about 16 miles in diameter. he impact crater's arms reach far across the surface. Even 620 miles north of the crater you can see evidence of the white streaks in the awesome close-up shot below. The white and blue colors are the residual ice particles from the blast. Galileo snapped this photo of this region, which is 44 miles wide by 19 miles long, in 1996. Although Galileo took the most detailed images of Europa we have, astronomers still don't know exactly how much liquid water there is or if life hides underneath the moon's icy shell. That is why, just last year, NASA issued a Request for Information to the scientific community to offer up ideas on the best, economically viable approach to study this amazing moon. Now, it looks as if some of those ideas might have paid off as scientists look forward to learning more about the future mission to Europa this spring. According to NASA the mission should complete the following tasks: Characterize the extent of the ocean and its relation to the deeper interior Characterize the ice shell and any subsurface water, including their heterogeneity, and the nature of surface-ice-ocean exchange Determine global surface, compositions and chemistry, especially as related to habitability Understand the formation of surface features, including sites of recent or current activity, identify and characterize candidate sites for future detailed exploration Understand Europa’s space environment and interaction with the magnetosphere. Twitter users expressed their excitement about the latest news: Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-...#ixzz3QjmtNrnU
Posts: 40,584

02-03-2015, 08:53 PM	#18
ping2000 Changes pants while driving Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Washington D.C. Casino cash: $5620495	Let's send Cosmo.
Posts: 15,819

02-03-2015, 09:34 PM	#23
Fish Ain't no relax! Join Date: Sep 2005 Casino cash: $1998919	"They can even be trained". That bullshit line pissed me off like you can't imagine... __________________
Posts: 47,669

02-03-2015, 09:53 PM	#27
Dave Lane Space Cadet and Aczabel Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Kanab, UT, USA Casino cash: $9333275 VARSITY	__________________ Thanks, Trump for the civics lesson. We are learning so much about RICO, espionage, sedition, impeachment, the 25th Amendment, order of succession, nepotism, separation of powers, 1st Amendment, obstruction of justice, the emoluments clause, conflicts of interest, collusion, sanctions, oligarchs, money laundering and so much more.
Posts: 40,584

02-03-2015, 09:53 PM	#28
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $4430478	I can only imagine the fear and terror that grips this planet when we discover extraterrestrials for the first time and it turns out to be shrimp. People will want to eat them. __________________ Chiefs game films
Posts: 278,667

02-03-2015, 09:58 PM	#29
Easy 6 pie is never free Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: the drivers seat Casino cash: $3447775	Ha, that was freakin cool, why havent I seen that before?
Posts: 91,968