Giant ice peaks on Europa could endanger the future undercarriages

Jupiter's moon, Europa, has attracted the attention of scientists with its likely underwater ocean and cracked ice shell, but visiting the distant ice ball could be even more difficult than we thought. A new analysis of conditions on Europa indicates that we could encounter ice spikes up to 50 feet above the surface, which could embellish any unlucky landing gear to fall in the wrong place. We do not know yet how dangerous a landing would be, but the answers could come in the next few years.

Europa is one of the most famous moons of the solar system, although it remains relatively unexplored. The last mission to capture close-up footage was Galileo, more than 20 years ago. This mission helped scientists confirm the presence of a liquid body beneath the surface of Europe, but the nature of the ocean is unclear. To be sure, you must land on the surface and conduct experiments. However, Daniel Hobley of Cardiff University and his team believe that Europe will not make it easy. The same remodeling of the surface that confirmed the presence of water can also make the surface much more dangerous.

According to the new study, Europa probably forms ice structures called penitents seen in Antarctica here on Earth. It starts with ice and snow accumulating unevenly on a surface. Sublimation causes the ice to change phase directly from solid gas to gas, but this does not occur uniformly. The denser areas sublimate more slowly, possibly forming large spikes. On Earth, these arrows can be bigger than a person. On Europa with its lower gravity, they could be 50 feet tall.

The good news is that the remodeling of Europa's surface means that not all areas will have access to giant penitents. There should be flatter areas where a probe can be installed safely. the wrong the news is that these areas may be more difficult to reach in the first place. Hobley predicts that penitents will be the largest around the equator. It is also the easiest place to pose for a sensor because it takes a lot of fuel to change the orbital inclination. Scientists may need to build future landers in this spirit.

We will have a better idea of ​​Europa's surface in a few years. NASA plans to launch the Europa Clipper mission in the early 2020s to study the planet. ESA also has a Ganymede spacecraft that will make some crossings over Europa at about the same time.

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