24 votes

NASA’s Webb finds carbon source on surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa

8 comments

  1. [7]
    EarlyWords
    Link
    Hot damn. This might just light a fire under several space agencies to move their longshot Europa missions further up the list.

    Astronomers using data from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have identified carbon dioxide in a specific region on the icy surface of Europa. Analysis indicates that this carbon likely originated in the subsurface ocean and was not delivered by meteorites or other external sources. Moreover, it was deposited on a geologically recent timescale. This discovery has important implications for the potential habitability of Europa’s ocean.

    Hot damn. This might just light a fire under several space agencies to move their longshot Europa missions further up the list.

    12 votes
    1. [5]
      GalileoPotato
      Link Parent
      Pretty great. What's the flight time to Europa from Earth given the limitations of our current technology?

      Pretty great. What's the flight time to Europa from Earth given the limitations of our current technology?

      4 votes
      1. [4]
        Eji1700
        Link Parent
        600 - 2000 days.

        600 - 2000 days.

        6 votes
        1. [3]
          GalileoPotato
          Link Parent
          A bit rough. It's not impossible but that requires dedicating a small chunk of your life for a round trip. I hope we can get there a little quicker in the next decade. Thanks 👍

          A bit rough. It's not impossible but that requires dedicating a small chunk of your life for a round trip. I hope we can get there a little quicker in the next decade. Thanks 👍

          2 votes
          1. [2]
            Eji1700
            Link Parent
            i mean......that's to get a pile of metal there. If you're thinking humans, you have the issue of food and water, which is more weight, which is more fuel and more time, which needs more...

            i mean......that's to get a pile of metal there.

            If you're thinking humans, you have the issue of food and water, which is more weight, which is more fuel and more time, which needs more food...etc.

            The current plans basically function on multiple launches linking up in orbit so you can get enough supplies there, but I'd say that baring a major breakthrough in something like fusion power, we're not getting humans anywhere near europa in the next 50-100 years easily.

            10 votes
            1. Delgalar
              Link Parent
              Europa gets massive radiation from Jupiter. What a human gets in a year at sea level on earth, Europa gets 1800x that amount daily. It will be a very long time indeed. Undersea habitation might be...

              Europa gets massive radiation from Jupiter. What a human gets in a year at sea level on earth, Europa gets 1800x that amount daily. It will be a very long time indeed.

              Undersea habitation might be possible one day however?

              11 votes