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Topic: Determining the Depth of Ice on Europa (Read 4296 times) |
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william wu
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Determining the Depth of Ice on Europa
« on: Oct 6th, 2003, 12:45am » |
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You work for NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the United States space program). You are given NASA's latest discoveries with respect to Europa, the fourth largest moon of Jupiter:
(1) images from recent spaceprobe flybys show a surface covered with ice; discolored ice in some places. the layer of ice apppears to be quite thick.
(2) magnetic and gravity measurements suggest very strongly that there is a liquid ocean beneath the ice.
Liquid oceans are very uncommon in the solar system. The high probability of a liquid ocean on Europa suggests the possibility of life, since water seems to be a sufficient condition for life. Thus Europa is very interesting, and NASA has placed the highest priorities on a mission to Europa to see what can be learned about life in the ocean. First, however, NASA must access the water under the ice, and even before it can reach the water it has to determine the thickness of the ice.
Problem: Devise a plan to determine the thickness of the Europan ice. Remember that NASA has somewhat limited resources (ever more true). There is no possibility of a manned expedition to Europa. Also, be careful about making assumptions.
Source: Dr. Fraser-Smith, 2001 PhD Qualifying Examination in EE ; some wording liberties taken by me. Time: 10 minutes
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| « Last Edit: Oct 26th, 2003, 7:31pm by william wu » |
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Icarus
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Re: Determining the Depth of Ice on Europa
« Reply #1 on: Oct 6th, 2003, 7:25pm » |
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The first idea that comes to mind is to place a orbiter around Europa, then impact a object against the ice surface. Have the orbiter measure the resulting seismic waves. This should provide the data to determine the ice thickness.
Yes, I know I have glossed over some very significant details. Presumably the orbiter will need to use some radar or laser based means to measure the waves, or perhaps changes in albedo caused by the surface movement will work. I am not familiar enough with the mathematics to say for sure, but I believe that a single impact should provide enough information to determine ice depth in the local area anyway.
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SWF
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Re: Determining the Depth of Ice on Europa
« Reply #2 on: Oct 6th, 2003, 7:57pm » |
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Couldn't microwaves somehow be used- the same frequency in microwave ovens that excites liquid water molecules, but not ice.
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abalagoo
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Re: Determining the Depth of Ice on Europa
« Reply #3 on: Sep 22nd, 2005, 12:12pm » |
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We may use the sonic to detect the two echo time of the surfaces - one is surface of the ice to the atomosphere; another is the surface of the ice to the water. Or the same idea of using laser, based on the same principle of the different density will have different wavelength.
I think if the image is very high quality, we could use multispectrum to get the depth from the different angles.
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sonYoak
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Re: Determining the Depth of Ice on Europa
« Reply #4 on: Nov 7th, 2006, 4:07pm » |
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Would it be possible to compare Europa's surface ice images with Earth's North Pole's surface ice images to approxiamate the depth? For example, you can find regions of similar discoloration and measure the actual depth on Earth.
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jwhooper
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Re: Determining the Depth of Ice on Europa
« Reply #5 on: Apr 30th, 2007, 11:54am » |
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I would send a probe powered by a nuclear reactor, and land it on the surface of Europa. The nuclear reactor would then settle on the icy surface, and the coolant would be cut back until it became hot enough to melt the ice. Sensors and cameras on the probe would monitor the descent until water was detected.
Of course, checking only one site wouldn't do, so the nuclear reactor would power the ship back up through the hole and back to the surface, where a new site would be selected.
I would name this probe the U.S.S. China Syndrome.
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