
Senior scientist argues that we should bypass Europa for Enceladus - jchanimal
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/07/the-case-for-enceladus-as-the-best-place-to-look-for-life-beyond-earth/
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davidw
I'm still pretty blown away by the probe landing on Titan:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNiO1b0ewy0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNiO1b0ewy0)
\- what an amazing and wonderful endeavor.

It's so frustrating that we can't dedicate more resources to stuff like this
than garbage like "the wall".

~~~
digi_owl
Because:

A, constituents are not interested.

B, the politicians that OK it would be long out of office before the results
are in.

What you get when you base your politics on marketing and homo economicus...

~~~
julienchastang
Interestingly, it is a conservative Republican from Texas [1] that is
championing the exploration of Europa. I wonder if he could be convinced to go
to Enceladus instead.

[1] [https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/inside-nasas-
daring-...](https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/03/inside-nasas-
daring-8-billion-plan-to-finally-find-extraterrestrial-life/)

~~~
mturmon
Yes. The GP comment is somewhat glib. Culbertson is following Europa
exploration closely. He passed out a press release on a possible Europa plume
recently:
[https://mobile.twitter.com/spcplcyonline/status/994323304453...](https://mobile.twitter.com/spcplcyonline/status/994323304453468160?lang=en)

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searine
Honestly, we should be focusing on Ganymede.

It is also covered in ice with an ocean. Europa looks good but it is bombarded
by direct radiation from Jupiter. Enceladus also looks good but it has really
low gravity, and is farther from earth. Also, radiation again.

Ganymede has it's own magnetic field, to help bounce some of those ionizing
particles, and is more distant from Jupiter. It's gravity is better than the
moons.

Obviously I wish we could go to all three, but Ganymede is clearly the best
choice imho.

~~~
Florin_Andrei
> _Europa looks good but it is bombarded by direct radiation from Jupiter._

A few dozen meters below surface the radiation levels ought to be nil. And the
surface is not interesting anyway.

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takk309
Instrumentation design for a probe that has to survive the radiation on the
surface would be an awesome job. Given the weight budget, it could be a very
hard engineering problem.

~~~
greglindahl
All of the probes that have gone to Jupiter have had that same hard
engineering problem, and we've yet to lose much science because of it.

~~~
wlesieutre
Partly radiation shielding, partly planning orbits to avoid it as much as
possible. If you’re on a moon you don’t have the luxury of avoiding anything.

~~~
Florin_Andrei
OTOH, if you're on a moon then you can use the moon itself as a shield. Just
burrow below the surface. Most natural sources cannot penetrate more than a
few meters (dozens of meters at most) through rock and/or ice.

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jchanimal
TLDR: we've detected organic molecules in the water jets that come from the
surface of the moon.

~~~
julienchastang
Organic molecules with a molecular weight > 200 [1]. In addition, there is
strong evidence of hydrothermal vents [2]. Enceladus is one of the most
fascinating stories in all of science right now. I think Ms. Porco has a
point. Enceladus may look more promising, if we are to discover
extraterrestrial life.

[1] [https://www.swri.org/press-release/evidence-complex-
organic-...](https://www.swri.org/press-release/evidence-complex-organic-
molecules-enceladus)

[2]
[http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6334/132](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6334/132)

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bayfullofrays
We have too many problems on Earth, so we shouldn't put anytime in expressing
our imperial tendencies else where in the solar system until we can feed all
of our children and stop POC from dying at the hands of police.

~~~
nickthemagicman
Have you SEEN human history? Human beings are not good at what you propose.
Human society tends towards domination and enslavement over caring for each
other. Half the people believe there's an invisible Man in the sky that grants
you wishes if you pray hard enough and that their invisible Man is the only
correct invisible man. We're primitive and we have nuclear weapons.

I think we need an alternative.to this planet as fast as possible.

~~~
alexdumitru
Amazing explanation. Even if we found a way to feed any hungry person and any
other person would earn $1000 for every poor person fed, a considerable
percentage of the population would oppose it.

We will never be able to come to an accord on something and it's probably a
good thing though.

I wish much more money were spent on space exploration so I could enjoy the
findings in my lifetime, even though it might not affect me more than a tv
show.

