Why are we not going there??
Are we afraid of alien life or the harsh climate?
Is there even a possibility for any life to exist in those conditions?
Let’s discuss about Colonizing Europa in today’s video of DiscoverZen.
Europa is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter and has one of the most promising environments for alien life to exist.
Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and has a water-ice crust and probably an iron-nickel core.
It has a very thin atmosphere, composed primarily of oxygen.
Its surface is striated by cracks and streaks, but craters are relatively few.
Europa has the smoothest surface of any known solid object in the Solar System.
The apparent youth and smoothness of the surface have led to the hypothesis that a water ocean exists beneath the surface, which could harbor extraterrestrial life.
The predominant model suggests that heat from tidal flexing causes the ocean to remain liquid and drives ice movement similar to plate tectonics, absorbing chemicals from the surface into the ocean below.
Sea salt from a subsurface ocean may be coating some geological features on Europa, suggesting that the ocean is interacting with the seafloor.
In addition to Earth-bound telescope observations, Europa has been examined by space probe flybys.
In addition, the Hubble Space Telescope detected water vapor plumes, which are thought to be caused by erupting cryo geysers.
In May 2018, astronomers provided supporting evidence of water plume activity on Europa, based on an updated analysis of data obtained from the Galileo space probe, which orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003.
Such plume activity could help researchers in a search for life from the subsurface Europan ocean without having to land on the moon.
Now, let’s see what are our challenges when it comes to colonizing Europa...
We have no evidence of life on Europa yet, but certain computer simulations using the data observed from many missions show that there is water underneath the surface.
But when speaking about Carbon-based life, especially humans, there are many factors that come into play.
We need oxygen in the air, liquid water, pressure, gravity, temperature, nutrients - all in a certain amount.
The major challenge on Europa will be staying on the surface.
Since it is very close to Jupiter, it receives 5.4 Sieverts or 540 Rems of radiation per day, which is approximately 1800 times the average annual radiation that we receive on earth at sea level.
So we need to stay beneath the surface because the ice is so thick that it can stop the radiation to reach under the ice crust.
We can also build strong underwater bunkers to live in.
For food, we will have to rely on hydroponic farming.
The oxygen can be extracted from the water and the temperature can also be controlled inside the bunkers or submarines.
When we go to the surface, we need to use radiation-proof space-suits, which are pressure and temperature-controlled.
Everything looks manageable, but what stops us from colonizing the moon?
The Distance.
With our current speeds, it takes approximately 6 years to reach Europa.
And that’s a long duration to send a manned mission.
Currently, NASA has proposed Europa Clipper Mission which aims to send a Lander on Europa and launch by the year 2025.
But it doesn’t look like there will be a manned mission anytime soon.
Let’s think about another similar scenario.
What if we terraformed Titan?
That sounds like a different topic to speculate and investigate in DiscoverZen.