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A picture of Europa. A new study suggests that ice peaks on the surface of Europe could make landing a rover a challenge. The frozen moon of Jupiter is a prime candidate in the search for extraterrestrial life. ( NASA )
Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, has an environment that scientists believe can support life, but landing there would be a challenge.
According to a new study, some places on the surface of the icy world are covered with raw and shredded ice spikes as sharp as blades. Researchers believe this will complicate navigation in future probes.
The results were published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Explore Europe
NASA is already preparing plans to further explore Europe and its oceans. The Space Agency has announced the launch of Europa Clipper, a spacecraft that is expected to be launched by 2022 to fly over and eventually explore the natural satellite geysers that are spewing water under the solid and icy crust. A landing gear that will land on the surface of Europa is also planned much later in the future.
However, before all this, scientists must first understand how to navigate the icy world, especially the huge ice peaks located in its equatorial belt.
Sharp points of Europe
Given the recent interest of the scientific community to further explore Europe in search of extraterrestrial life, a team of researchers wanted to know what the landing on the natural satellite would look like. To do this, the team looks at the Earth as a guide.
"On Earth, it's quite unusual to find completely flat ice," said Daniel Hobley, a geologist and planetary scientist at Cardiff University. "Especially if it is left in the sun, this ice will make it rough."
Researchers have focused on penitents, a type of ice formation that occurs only when the atmosphere is thin and the air is very dry. Penitents also need extreme cold to avoid any risk of melting ice.
A process called sublimation is also involved. This means that the ice does not turn into a liquid when it is exposed to direct sunlight. Instead, the ice skips the liquid phase and immediately turns into water vapor.
It turns out that the Europa of Jupiter offers the ideal conditions for these ice peaks.
At present, it is impossible to know if the conclusions of the study are true. While the Galileo probe took pictures of the moon's surface, the texture of the ice was not clear. The researchers hope that the Europa Clipper, which will fly near the surface, will provide evidence of ice formation.
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