NASA: "We'll have an exciting announcement about a discovery on Europa on Monday." Everyone: "They found oceans! Life! Intelligent life! Magnificent cities of crystal in the oceans of Europa!" NASA (on Monday): "We've discovered that the ice on Europa has a pH of 7.01, meaning that it's neither acidic nor basic!" Everyone: "Uh...yay."
Still, it is something encouraging. Knowing how extremophiles can survive in pretty tough conditions, very favorable conditions (neutral PF water/liquid) are really something to spur further research!
My money is on confirmation of geysers, which is pretty darn exciting since it would potentially allow an orbiter to sample Europa's ocean while also potentially meaning the ice crust is on the thinner end of the predicted range.
Oh SNAP! The logical place to set up to drill through the ice would be near the geysers - if water is getting through to the surface naturally surely we can get through with the right equipment. Damn, we will get this done in my lifetime if we play our cards right. Whether sampling geysers or getting beneath the ice, if there's anything alive it would be one of the greatest scientific finds of all time.
The subcrustal world under all that ice up on Europa must be extremely fascinating, to say the least.
And what really works out great is the fact that it is close enough to explore! All these amazing things we find that are light-years away will likely never be explored (by humans anyway). But Europa is within our grasp within most of our lifetimes. I plan on living to be 100, so I can almost guarantee I see Europa exploration within my lifetime.
Did NASA ever say what the press conference was actually about? So far all the stories seem to be "How not to announce a press conference."
That's pretty darn exciting. There being a significant amount of matter in plumes also opens the possibility of sample return if future probes find interesting chemicals in them. The logistics of a mission like that are hardcore engineering though when you consider the fuel requirements to get into Europas orbit, withstand Jupiters radiation for long enough to pass through at least one or two plumes and then break orbit and return to Earth.
Same thing that powers all geysers: heat. Europa experiences a lot of tidal forces from Jupiter's huge gravity and that heats it up. That's why it has liquid water in the first place instead of being a frozen lump of ice.
That's a lot of heat to propel a column of water from the bottom of Europa to 125 miles above it. Even with the low gravity.
If the ice is thick enough, maybe the water beneath is under very high pressure. Any geysers would likely be quite forceful in that case.
Does Europa have a molten core? Also damn you for Tuckerfan stealing my picture , I'm still gonna post it anyway though.
Callisto too! Europa, Ganymede, & Callisto are the 3 Galileans thought to, & might very well actually HAVE, subcrustal oceans. Europa topping the other 2 at present, with strong evidence of a subcrustal ocean. But it wouldn't be surprising if Callisto & Ganymede also have subcrustal oceans. Ganymede, aside from being the largest (known) moon known (thus far) in this Solar System, larger even than Mercury, also has the very unique distinction of being the ONLY moon with a MAGNETIC FIELD! So, the combination of ice crust & magnetic field, from, at least from a bioGeocentric POV, would, SHOULD, provide great cover & protection to whatever life may exist beneath the ice in its possible oceans(?). Delving into TOS territory here, even Io may have silicon based life? Or perhaps some form of life based on & centered around sulfur? Or both maybe?!?!
