NASA and ESA to attempt unmanned missions and perhaps landing there The romantic in me (as well as the "Man of Science" inside me working out a way to get out) has always been fascinated by having colonies set up on Europa and Enceladus one day, in the far future. Whether it's worth the cost of sending yet another robot creature into space to invade other worlds and search for signs of non-terrestrial life is always up for debate. Or maybe we should look towards getting our own asses to Mars first?
Re: All these worlds are yours... including Europa (and perhaps Encela Well if liquid water is found on one or both moons, it would be a big boost to finding life within the solar system, and outside it. This would be a HUGE discovery, even if the life on Europa and Enceladus is single-celled or bacteria.
Re: All these worlds are yours... including Europa (and perhaps Encela Great news. I've been a supporter of a mission to Europa for a long time. If there is (as it seems possible) an ocean of water under the frozen surface, it would be a good idea to go and take a look.
Re: All these worlds are yours... including Europa (and perhaps Encela I approve of this message and wish to subscribe to the newsletter.
Re: All these worlds are yours... including Europa (and perhaps Encela Radiation is too great for humans at Europa. Or most of Jupiters moons
Re: All these worlds are yours... including Europa (and perhaps Encela Was anybody mentioning a human mission?
Re: All these worlds are yours... including Europa (and perhaps Encela "colonies set up on Europa and Enceladus" implied human missions to me.
Re: All these worlds are yours... including Europa (and perhaps Encela Eh, keeping radiation out is only one of the many problems with colonization. It hardly seems the most immediate.
Re: All these worlds are yours... including Europa (and perhaps Encela The biggest worry with a probe to look for life under Europa's ice would be trying to prevent cross-contamination by Earth microbes that may hitch a ride of the probe - we just don't have a way yet to sterilize every single component with a 100% guarantee it will be absoulutly free of *anything* potentially living. (Preventing potential cross-contamination of the Jovian moons by Earth-life is a real concern for NASA - it's a major reason they decided to crash Galileo into Jupiter: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/19/sunday/main574222.shtml ) It's the same problem that has kept scientists from probing lake Vostok on Earth yet, even though - much like Europe - we really think there could be life in the water under the ice. ( http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/11/1115_041115_antarctic_lakes.html ) We just don't have the technology yet to ensure that absolutely *nothing* from Earth isn't hitchhiking on a probe - life's just too damn tenacious, it just somehow always...finds a way.