Europa Mission
September 4, 2015 9:29 PM Subscribe
"The search for alien life has recently taken a surprise twist away from Mars and toward Europa, an ice ball of a moon in orbit around Jupiter. To understand why, you just need to look at these three numbers:
Zero
1.33 billion
3 billion....
....The first is the volume of known water on Mars (sorry, permafrost and billion-year-old riverbeds don’t count). The second is the volume of water on Earth, measured in cubic kilometers. The third is the inferred volume of water sloshing around just beneath Europa’s frozen surface. Sure, Mars may have had oceans billions of years ago, but Europa has them right now—and they are more than twice as large as all of Earth’s oceans combined.")
...
"This past May, NASA finally agreed and began the development of a probe to visit Europa sometime in the next decade. Many details of the mission, including its name, are still up in the air. But NASA has selected the nine scientific instruments that will ride aboard the craft to collect data, and Congress has put up the cash to get the potentially $2 billion project underway."
...
"The better way to get answers—the one that puts a gleam into the researchers’ eyes—is to ignore Arthur C. Clarke’s monoliths and send a lander."
....The first is the volume of known water on Mars (sorry, permafrost and billion-year-old riverbeds don’t count). The second is the volume of water on Earth, measured in cubic kilometers. The third is the inferred volume of water sloshing around just beneath Europa’s frozen surface. Sure, Mars may have had oceans billions of years ago, but Europa has them right now—and they are more than twice as large as all of Earth’s oceans combined.")
...
"This past May, NASA finally agreed and began the development of a probe to visit Europa sometime in the next decade. Many details of the mission, including its name, are still up in the air. But NASA has selected the nine scientific instruments that will ride aboard the craft to collect data, and Congress has put up the cash to get the potentially $2 billion project underway."
...
"The better way to get answers—the one that puts a gleam into the researchers’ eyes—is to ignore Arthur C. Clarke’s monoliths and send a lander."
You look towards Europa because that's where Arthur C. Clarke said to look.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:55 PM on September 4, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:55 PM on September 4, 2015 [10 favorites]
No other spacecraft has gone to visit since the Galileo mission concluded in 2003.
um...Cassini...New Horizons...they both visited.
Also, 10 miles is one of the possible maximums for ice thickness, the most common theory being that it varies between 1-20 miles, and possibly thinner (with venting/plumes) along the major cracks.
posted by sexyrobot at 10:21 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
um...Cassini...New Horizons...they both visited.
Also, 10 miles is one of the possible maximums for ice thickness, the most common theory being that it varies between 1-20 miles, and possibly thinner (with venting/plumes) along the major cracks.
posted by sexyrobot at 10:21 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Europa and Ganymede are two of the places that seem to have the highest likelihood of life in the solar system right now, with Mars probably coming in third.
I'd throw Titan in that first list and move Mars down one.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:33 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'd throw Titan in that first list and move Mars down one.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 10:33 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
I thought HAL was pretty clear when sending his message.
All these worlds are yours.posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 11:29 PM on September 4, 2015 [7 favorites]
Except Europa.
Attempt no landing there.
Use them together.
Use them in peace.
I always thought 2010 was a good book. It's kind of funny how Clarke and Stanley Kubrick teamed up, because Clarke is such a pulpy writer.
posted by Nevin at 11:31 PM on September 4, 2015
posted by Nevin at 11:31 PM on September 4, 2015
Mars appears now, after investigation, to be boring as as shit. Lets move on. You go NASA!
posted by Windopaene at 11:31 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 11:31 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Mars appears now, after investigation, to be boring as as shit.
HEY! Be nice. I'm doing the best I can over here.
posted by Mars Saxman at 11:50 PM on September 4, 2015 [21 favorites]
HEY! Be nice. I'm doing the best I can over here.
posted by Mars Saxman at 11:50 PM on September 4, 2015 [21 favorites]
When was this "surprise twist" away from Mars toward Europa? I'm not a scientist and I first read about Europa possibly harboring life at least 15 years ago.
posted by zardoz at 12:13 AM on September 5, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by zardoz at 12:13 AM on September 5, 2015 [9 favorites]
um...Cassini...New Horizons...they both visited.
Cassini didn't and New Horizons didn't do much as it zipped by.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:32 AM on September 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
I'm sure I remember some plan to drill down through the ice and release some kind of crazy un-manned submarine type of device... awesome but I'm guessing it would cost gazillions.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:12 AM on September 5, 2015
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:12 AM on September 5, 2015
(Oh and I think that was some speculative semi-sf plan and not something serious/anyway practical in the next few years)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:13 AM on September 5, 2015
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:13 AM on September 5, 2015
I would have thought that burrowing through the ice would be the best bet. Have a module with a nuclear heating element to (slowly) warm the ice beneath it above melting point and let it sink into the ice, deploying a cable behind it.
You don't need a mini sub, just have a hydrophone and a little lab. The hydrophone should tell you if you have any advanced life, and the lab should be able to identify non-naturally occurring organics for more basic stuff.
Even if you don't get all the way through the ice, you should be able to find stuff that's fresh enough to give a reasonable answer to the question.
posted by YAMWAK at 2:23 AM on September 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
You don't need a mini sub, just have a hydrophone and a little lab. The hydrophone should tell you if you have any advanced life, and the lab should be able to identify non-naturally occurring organics for more basic stuff.
Even if you don't get all the way through the ice, you should be able to find stuff that's fresh enough to give a reasonable answer to the question.
posted by YAMWAK at 2:23 AM on September 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
This is cool but I fear that, whatever we find there, a follow-up mission with a borer/digger/crawler will be a stupendously long time coming.
posted by newdaddy at 3:55 AM on September 5, 2015
posted by newdaddy at 3:55 AM on September 5, 2015
All I know is the TV in the break room has been playing "Ancient Aliens" on the History channel all night and at this point my Pavlovian reaction to the words "alien life" is to scream and throw something at the screen.
posted by Scattercat at 3:57 AM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Scattercat at 3:57 AM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
man don't let Europa know how we treat our Earthly oceans. It's gonna be that Star Trek movie with whales all over again.
posted by angrycat at 3:57 AM on September 5, 2015 [10 favorites]
posted by angrycat at 3:57 AM on September 5, 2015 [10 favorites]
Europa and Ganymede are two of the places that seem to have the highest likelihood of life in the solar system right now, with Mars probably coming in third.
I'd throw Titan in that first list and move Mars down one.
You guys forgot Enceladus. Number 1 with a bullet.
Titan has activity, but is there any indication that the chemistry works when you've no liquid water, but liquid methane instead?
posted by leotrotsky at 4:54 AM on September 5, 2015 [4 favorites]
I'd throw Titan in that first list and move Mars down one.
You guys forgot Enceladus. Number 1 with a bullet.
Titan has activity, but is there any indication that the chemistry works when you've no liquid water, but liquid methane instead?
posted by leotrotsky at 4:54 AM on September 5, 2015 [4 favorites]
Titan has activity, but is there any indication that the chemistry works when you've no liquid water, but liquid methane instead?
I asked Sarah Hörst this (kind of) a while back;
@CChrisrose: @PlanetDr @exploreplanets Is there any evidence (or analysis) to show that tholins can form autocatalytic sets?
Her answer:
@PlanetDr: @CChrisrose @exploreplanets working on a proposal to suds this right now...
So as soon as she suds it, we'll know.
posted by newdaddy at 5:12 AM on September 5, 2015 [4 favorites]
I asked Sarah Hörst this (kind of) a while back;
@CChrisrose: @PlanetDr @exploreplanets Is there any evidence (or analysis) to show that tholins can form autocatalytic sets?
Her answer:
@PlanetDr: @CChrisrose @exploreplanets working on a proposal to suds this right now...
So as soon as she suds it, we'll know.
posted by newdaddy at 5:12 AM on September 5, 2015 [4 favorites]
> Titan has activity, but is there any indication that the chemistry works when you've no liquid water, but liquid methane instead?
Not only does chemistry work, some smart people down the hall put together a plausible mechanism for membranes to work, so that primordial cells could potentially function:
Membrane alternatives in worlds without oxygen: Creation of an azotosome
... We propose a new type of membrane, composed of small organic nitrogen compounds, that is capable of forming and functioning in liquid methane at cryogenic temperatures. [...] As a proof of concept, we also demonstrate that stable cryogenic membranes could arise from compounds observed in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon, Titan, known for the existence of seas of liquid methane on its surface.
And yeah, the Enceladus folks have a mission concept to fly through its volcanic eruption plumes and thus sample its ocean (e.g.), which would be much cleaner than landing on Europa, for example. Imagine the bitter rivalry. Then consider that many of the scientists are on both teams, and thus arguing against themselves.
posted by RedOrGreen at 5:38 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Not only does chemistry work, some smart people down the hall put together a plausible mechanism for membranes to work, so that primordial cells could potentially function:
Membrane alternatives in worlds without oxygen: Creation of an azotosome
... We propose a new type of membrane, composed of small organic nitrogen compounds, that is capable of forming and functioning in liquid methane at cryogenic temperatures. [...] As a proof of concept, we also demonstrate that stable cryogenic membranes could arise from compounds observed in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon, Titan, known for the existence of seas of liquid methane on its surface.
And yeah, the Enceladus folks have a mission concept to fly through its volcanic eruption plumes and thus sample its ocean (e.g.), which would be much cleaner than landing on Europa, for example. Imagine the bitter rivalry. Then consider that many of the scientists are on both teams, and thus arguing against themselves.
posted by RedOrGreen at 5:38 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't know what she meant by that, TBH. I suspect autoincorrect.
posted by newdaddy at 5:39 AM on September 5, 2015
posted by newdaddy at 5:39 AM on September 5, 2015
Do not be dissing the Clarke. He told a mean story. and had Sense Of Wonder tattooed on his cerebellum. Kubrick had his pick of 60s SF writers. He knew what he was doing.
One of the problems with landing on Europa (or any of the ice worlds) is that any decently-equipped lander will be quite warm, because it will need to have an RTG power source. The dangers of just melting into the ground are not negligable. You can put the thing on struts, but then the surface is further away...
posted by Devonian at 6:19 AM on September 5, 2015 [6 favorites]
One of the problems with landing on Europa (or any of the ice worlds) is that any decently-equipped lander will be quite warm, because it will need to have an RTG power source. The dangers of just melting into the ground are not negligable. You can put the thing on struts, but then the surface is further away...
posted by Devonian at 6:19 AM on September 5, 2015 [6 favorites]
Mars appears now, after investigation, to be boring as as shit.
What else could you expect from a planet populated entirely by robots?
posted by Thorzdad at 6:33 AM on September 5, 2015 [12 favorites]
What else could you expect from a planet populated entirely by robots?
posted by Thorzdad at 6:33 AM on September 5, 2015 [12 favorites]
Can't read it here in Australia: it diverts to their local site, because Popular Science employs idiots.
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:41 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Joe in Australia at 6:41 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
suss?
posted by Zerowensboring at 7:17 AM on September 5, 2015
posted by Zerowensboring at 7:17 AM on September 5, 2015
Yeah, is "suds" a typo or is it some kind of scientist or NASA slang?
posted by No-sword at 7:24 AM on September 5, 2015
posted by No-sword at 7:24 AM on September 5, 2015
Going to go out on a limb here and guess Prof. Horst meant "study."
Also, you should all follow @PlanetDR and the rest of the planetary science twitter gang, because when we land in comets or fly by Pluto they're the best.
posted by physicsmatt at 7:35 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Also, you should all follow @PlanetDR and the rest of the planetary science twitter gang, because when we land in comets or fly by Pluto they're the best.
posted by physicsmatt at 7:35 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd throw Titan in that first list and move Mars down one.
Titan's an oddball -- if it does have life, it's not oxygen based, where Martian/Europan/Ganymedean life would be. We understand how carbo-oxy based life works, mainly because we are carbo-oxy based. Titan's atmosphere, while mostly nitrogen like Earth's, is methane and hydrogen, with trace hydrocarbons. Titan's lakes are ethane, methane and propane. So, you're looking at life based on hydrocarbon chemistry. Is it possible? If so, how would it work?
It's not *impossible* by any means, but it's a very different thing. So it sort of sorts into a different axis, really.
But right now, Mars has it hard. The biggest problem is the fact that the Martian Dynamo turned off, which means no magnetosphere, so the solar particle flux is hammering the surface. That's stripping off the atmosphere and beating up any complex molecules on the surface. It's one of the two very very very very very big problems with human colonization on Mars*. Getting a magentosphere on Mars again would make getting and keeping an atmosphere there much easier, and that would instantly put Mars as tied for #1 as 'Most likely to support carbo-oxy based lifeforms in the solar system.'
Of course, restarting that involves efforts on the scale of "melting the core of a planet." It's not likely to happen. To give Mars an atmosphere is going to involve adding one to it and then supplementing it as the solar wind removes it. That, or Humanity acquiring enough power to restart the dynamo, which really means godlike power -- planet destruction level power.
* The other is the .37g gravity. We have no idea how the human body will handle one third earth gravity over decade time scales. The lack of atmosphere is a compartaively easy problem.
posted by eriko at 8:19 AM on September 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
Titan's an oddball -- if it does have life, it's not oxygen based, where Martian/Europan/Ganymedean life would be. We understand how carbo-oxy based life works, mainly because we are carbo-oxy based. Titan's atmosphere, while mostly nitrogen like Earth's, is methane and hydrogen, with trace hydrocarbons. Titan's lakes are ethane, methane and propane. So, you're looking at life based on hydrocarbon chemistry. Is it possible? If so, how would it work?
It's not *impossible* by any means, but it's a very different thing. So it sort of sorts into a different axis, really.
But right now, Mars has it hard. The biggest problem is the fact that the Martian Dynamo turned off, which means no magnetosphere, so the solar particle flux is hammering the surface. That's stripping off the atmosphere and beating up any complex molecules on the surface. It's one of the two very very very very very big problems with human colonization on Mars*. Getting a magentosphere on Mars again would make getting and keeping an atmosphere there much easier, and that would instantly put Mars as tied for #1 as 'Most likely to support carbo-oxy based lifeforms in the solar system.'
Of course, restarting that involves efforts on the scale of "melting the core of a planet." It's not likely to happen. To give Mars an atmosphere is going to involve adding one to it and then supplementing it as the solar wind removes it. That, or Humanity acquiring enough power to restart the dynamo, which really means godlike power -- planet destruction level power.
* The other is the .37g gravity. We have no idea how the human body will handle one third earth gravity over decade time scales. The lack of atmosphere is a compartaively easy problem.
posted by eriko at 8:19 AM on September 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
There's also Enceladus , a moon of Saturn, which we know is spewing water into space.
But we've got another probe headed to Mars and Rover planned for 2020, so... I'm not bitter or anything.
I figure it we're putting probes on the ridiculous powerful SLS, then throw a lander on there anyway, just cause we'd have huge amounts of power. And if we're putting a lander on there, why not make it rover? Oh we'd need a communication satellite too? Ok, put it on the list.
Yeah, I would totally max out NASA's credit cards.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:28 AM on September 5, 2015
But we've got another probe headed to Mars and Rover planned for 2020, so... I'm not bitter or anything.
I figure it we're putting probes on the ridiculous powerful SLS, then throw a lander on there anyway, just cause we'd have huge amounts of power. And if we're putting a lander on there, why not make it rover? Oh we'd need a communication satellite too? Ok, put it on the list.
Yeah, I would totally max out NASA's credit cards.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:28 AM on September 5, 2015
Titan? Yeah, let we had a plan to plop a probe in it's ocean, but that lost out to...another probe to Mars. It's a different probe though, gonna study Mars' dead interior!
Soooo not bitter.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:31 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Soooo not bitter.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:31 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is totally amazing.
Unrelated: I hope Apple will solve the popup ad problem.
posted by persona au gratin at 9:11 AM on September 5, 2015
Unrelated: I hope Apple will solve the popup ad problem.
posted by persona au gratin at 9:11 AM on September 5, 2015
Blue guys with four arms are not boring. Okay, maybe that's not real. I'm just saying.
But point three seven G is not boring either--you can hang glide over Valles Marineris (probably flap your own wings), leap over smallish buildings with a single bound, and live in Greenhoused cliff-dwellings. When you go outside, don't forget to put your spacesuit on.
And it's easier to get to Europa from Mars than it is from Earth.
Ah. Europa. Put the lander on stilts and lower the probe on a long cable. Take a few pictures, listen for a while, then broadcast a simple tune for them and see what happens. I kinda like "We are Family," for its ironic undertones.
posted by mule98J at 9:31 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
But point three seven G is not boring either--you can hang glide over Valles Marineris (probably flap your own wings), leap over smallish buildings with a single bound, and live in Greenhoused cliff-dwellings. When you go outside, don't forget to put your spacesuit on.
And it's easier to get to Europa from Mars than it is from Earth.
Ah. Europa. Put the lander on stilts and lower the probe on a long cable. Take a few pictures, listen for a while, then broadcast a simple tune for them and see what happens. I kinda like "We are Family," for its ironic undertones.
posted by mule98J at 9:31 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd like to understand a bit more about the sterilization of any probe we might land there. Nothing would be worse than ruining our chance to study any potential lifeforms by seeding it with our bacteria/spores/whathaveyou.
posted by Existential Dread at 10:15 AM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Existential Dread at 10:15 AM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
Alternately, colonization of Mars might look a fair bit like Herbert's Dune, only with suits for pressure/atmosphere rather than water and the community life of humanity centered around sealed habitats. Then there's the biopunk solution where Mars becomes the home of engineered post-human species.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 10:25 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 10:25 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
If we find methane based life as well as oxygen based life in our solar system, it will be very strong proof that life is ubiquitous in the universe.
posted by monotreme at 10:32 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by monotreme at 10:32 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Can you imagine what life would be like for intelligent lifeforms under the ice of Europa. Totally different frame of reference and probably outlook on the world. Would they imagine anything exists beyond the ice?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:23 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:23 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Can you imagine what life would be like for intelligent lifeforms under the ice of Europa. Totally different frame of reference and probably outlook on the world.
I had the same thought. Fully aquatic, totally blind intelligent beings. Sort of like octopi without eyes. Communication by touch and sound.
Would they imagine anything exists beyond the ice?!
Humans had little idea of anything beyond our atmosphere until a few hundred years ago. And we could see the stars, moon and sun. Europans would only feel the underside of the ice and the bottom of their sea. They would know their world is round, however, assuming they established travel or communication all the way around it. Their intellectual development might move into completely different directions from earthlings — perhaps far more introspective and artistic. Or, with much less sensory stimulation than us, they might be going in much more abstract directions, for example, deep societal dives into mathematics, or realms of thinking we don't even conceive of. Probably the octopi are doing that, as well.
posted by beagle at 11:59 AM on September 5, 2015
I had the same thought. Fully aquatic, totally blind intelligent beings. Sort of like octopi without eyes. Communication by touch and sound.
Would they imagine anything exists beyond the ice?!
Humans had little idea of anything beyond our atmosphere until a few hundred years ago. And we could see the stars, moon and sun. Europans would only feel the underside of the ice and the bottom of their sea. They would know their world is round, however, assuming they established travel or communication all the way around it. Their intellectual development might move into completely different directions from earthlings — perhaps far more introspective and artistic. Or, with much less sensory stimulation than us, they might be going in much more abstract directions, for example, deep societal dives into mathematics, or realms of thinking we don't even conceive of. Probably the octopi are doing that, as well.
posted by beagle at 11:59 AM on September 5, 2015
Let me just jump in here and recommend Europa Report, a found footage SF film about a mission to Europa. It's one of the very few found footage films I've enjoyed and it's straight up pro-science and pro-space exploration. The filmmakers worked closely with JPL.
posted by brundlefly at 12:16 PM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by brundlefly at 12:16 PM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
In Bruce Sterling's Schismatrix, there's a group colonizing Europa not by creating human life support habitats but by creating new, optimally adapted-by-design aquatic bodies for themselves. One nice potential advantage of GE is that, if we ever did become interplanetary colonizers, it wouldn't have to be a matter of how do we change it so that we can thrive there, but rather, what could we become that would thrive there?
posted by George_Spiggott at 2:34 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by George_Spiggott at 2:34 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Let me just jump in here and recommend Europa Report, a found footage SF film about a mission to Europa.
Let me jump in here and say that opinions vary and Europa Report was not a good film at all. It relied heavily on highly trained and skilled astronauts repeatedly doing dumb things and making mistakes, to reach a conclusion telegraphed from the beginning. Armageddon was a cheap thrill scifi flick, but at least it didn't pretend to be anything but.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:04 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Let me jump in here and say that opinions vary and Europa Report was not a good film at all. It relied heavily on highly trained and skilled astronauts repeatedly doing dumb things and making mistakes, to reach a conclusion telegraphed from the beginning. Armageddon was a cheap thrill scifi flick, but at least it didn't pretend to be anything but.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:04 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Could be blind . . . but our own benthic depths are filled with bioluminescence. I wouldn't assume that they're all blind and only communicate via touch and sound, though admittedly that would seem more likely.
posted by Blackanvil at 4:06 PM on September 5, 2015
posted by Blackanvil at 4:06 PM on September 5, 2015
Not only that but what we call the visible band is a tiny slice of the electromagnetic spectrum, and Europa is deeply embedded in the Jovian system's powerful and complex magnetic field. Any life that evolved there is going to have some differences from anything we understand, and that might easily include a sensitivity to other EM bands if such proved evolutionarily useful.
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:18 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by George_Spiggott at 4:18 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Let me just jump in here and recommend Europa Report, a found footage SF film about a mission to Europa...
I second that, also it's got one really good joke; the setup of which is the human crewed mission to Europa.
posted by Divine_Wino at 4:51 PM on September 5, 2015
I second that, also it's got one really good joke; the setup of which is the human crewed mission to Europa.
posted by Divine_Wino at 4:51 PM on September 5, 2015
Clarke also wrote a story which postulates the presence of gaseous lifeforms evolving in the atmospheric layers of Jupiter.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:38 PM on September 5, 2015
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 5:38 PM on September 5, 2015
This Is Just To Say
I have landed
on Europa
that was in
Jovian orbit
and which
you were probably
saving
for some aliens
Forgive me
it was disquisitive
so sweet
and so cold
posted by Smedleyman at 5:50 PM on September 5, 2015 [6 favorites]
I have landed
on Europa
that was in
Jovian orbit
and which
you were probably
saving
for some aliens
Forgive me
it was disquisitive
so sweet
and so cold
posted by Smedleyman at 5:50 PM on September 5, 2015 [6 favorites]
James Blish wrote the first significant SF about bioengineering humans to live in alien environments in the Pantropy stories collected in The Seedling Stars. The one I remember most clearly is Surface Tension, where miniaturised water-breathing humans have to develop technology on a world mostly composed of puddles...
posted by Devonian at 4:24 AM on September 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Devonian at 4:24 AM on September 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
This sort of thing always reminds me Caitlin Kiernan's marvelous sci-fi novella, The Dry Salvages.
posted by Kitteh at 5:17 AM on September 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Kitteh at 5:17 AM on September 6, 2015 [1 favorite]
Cassini didn't and New Horizons didn't do much as it zipped by.
If you're allowing New Horizons' flyby to count, why not Cassini's flyby?
http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/jupiter/jupiter-and-europa-from-cassini.html
posted by Four Ds at 11:25 AM on September 8, 2015
If you're allowing New Horizons' flyby to count, why not Cassini's flyby?
http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-images/jupiter/jupiter-and-europa-from-cassini.html
posted by Four Ds at 11:25 AM on September 8, 2015
Because Cassini is an asshole of a space probe, constantly showing off and trying to upstage other probes.
Or I simply forgot about Cassini's flyby.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:52 AM on September 8, 2015
Or I simply forgot about Cassini's flyby.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:52 AM on September 8, 2015
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Personally, I'm glad we're doing both, and wish we were doing much, much more.
posted by chimaera at 9:48 PM on September 4, 2015 [4 favorites]