Europa
By: Kurt Seefeldt
In partial fulfillment of requirements
for ASTE 527 Fall Term
Europa glistens with one of the
highest geometric albedos in our solar
system, .64.
Europa’s IR signature is consistent
with water ice but showed some
anomalies that could prove consistent
with salt minerals or bacteria.
When compared to IR analysis from
Yellowstone National Park
Extremophile bacteria, the results were
similar.
Effective Elastic Thickness:
=~25km!
Cryodriller
Power Requirements can be calculated by:
ΔW= Alρ[cp(tF-t) + Lv]
And will be approximately between 1.14E8-5.54E8 J
The descent velocity can be calculated by:
ν= lP/ΔW= P / Aρ[cp(tF-t) + Lv]
And will be approximately 2.3 years.
Depending upon the salinity and
temperature of the ice between 7 and
26 tranceivers will be needed
Communications
Bay
Transceivers
Transceivers
Swimmer bay
Swimmer Science: Ice/Water Interface
Conductivity-Temperature-Depth sensor,
or CTD
Ice/water interaction
Gas analysis probing
Accelerometers
Radioactivity sensors
Echo sounders
Wave meters
Hydrolocaters
Cameras
Swimmer Science: Mid-Ocean
Protein readings
Molecular probes
E-field detector
Temperature readings
Video
pH, and oxygen
Microscopy
Search for fish like creatures!
Salinity content
Search for microbial life forms such as
Tubeworms, Iceworms, Mussel or Brine
Swimmer Science: The Depths
Seismo-acoustic profiling
Chemiluminescence detector
Optical photodetector sensor
IR spectrophotometer
Coloimetric detector
Spectrophotometers
Oxidation-Reduction Potential, or ORP, electrodes
. Lighting and photography
Magnetometer
temperature readings
sonar
.
SWIMMER POWER:
Because the swimmers will remain on
Europa permanently the contents must
be as enviro-friendly as possible.
Swimmer Communications:
Underwater acoustic communication is the leading prospect.
o Transmission modems and receiver equalizers are employed.
o Bit rates of 1 kbps at 10 – 100 nautical mile ranges.
o Modems are of the average size of a credit card with the thickness of a
cell phone and consume 10-50 W of power to transmit.
o The equalizers will be mounted aboard the CTD where the signal will
be transmitted to the surface and then on to Earth.
Other Uses
Articles from the Europa mission have many possible applications
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