Planetary scientist says: Focus on Europa |
Planetary scientist says: Focus on Europa |
Guest_AlexBlackwell_* |
Feb 12 2007, 11:26 PM
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Guests |
Planetary scientist says: Focus on Europa
By Tony Fitzpatrick Washington University in St. Louis News & Information February 7, 2007 |
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Feb 15 2007, 03:37 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 477 Joined: 2-March 05 Member No.: 180 |
I too would really love to see a mission to Europa.
One thing I wonder about Europa though - it has a pretty good shell of ice around it. Can this shield the ocean below from the radiation around Jupiter? Exactly what kind of radiation are we talking about? I ask because one theoretical spaceship design I've seen to get astronauts to Mars would be a spherical ship, with a shell containing liquid water. This would serve as a shield against interplanetary radiation. This is only theoretical, because such a ship, in order to be large enough to hold a crew and supplies, would be extremely massive, and nearly impossible to launch and even propel to Mars, much less have it return. |
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Feb 15 2007, 05:11 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
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Feb 15 2007, 02:23 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3516 Joined: 4-November 05 From: North Wales Member No.: 542 |
Thanks for that link. That is indeed a very handy and well-written summary of the situation at Europa. I'm doing some Europa reading just in case the planners manage to resist the siren songs of Titan (but how could they?) Volcanopele, I like your timetable. That means two big mission launches in quick succession. And why not! Where there's a will there's a way. We must demand BOTH the moons, at the best time to maximise the science. Given some of the things money gets spent on (not just in America) I see no reason to be timid about these entirely worthy, knowledge enriching, consciousness-raising, humanity-defining enterprises. |
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Feb 18 2007, 04:21 PM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Volcanopele, I like your timetable. That means two big mission launches in quick succession. And why not! Where there's a will there's a way. We must demand BOTH the moons, at the best time to maximise the science. Given some of the things money gets spent on (not just in America) I see no reason to be timid about these entirely worthy, knowledge enriching, consciousness-raising, humanity-defining enterprises. I agree with you wholeheartedly, NG, but the sad fact of the matter is that due to numerous other present US government financial pressures and priority shifts (which we won't discuss due to forum rules), it's extremely unlikely in my opinion that there will be enough funding available for two or more outer-system Flagships anytime soon. In fact, we'll be really lucky to get even one funded, so that's why we'd better choose carefully... On the other hand, this constraint may drive innovation as vjkane2000 noted. Two or more very capable Discovery-class missions may be preferable, and certainly would provide a more comprehensive science campaign. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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