Editor’s note: when we begin to robotically explore the ice-covered oceans of Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Mimas etc. we’ll need to make the most of the visits. Learning how to best […]
Europa
Posted inHabitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mimas, Press Release, Saturn, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Mimas Has A Young Ocean Beneath Its Icy Shell
Hidden beneath the heavily cratered surface of Mimas, one of Saturn’s smallest moons, lies a secret: a global ocean of liquid water.
Posted inEuropa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Jupiter, Status Report
Subsurface Thermophysical Properties of Europa’s Leading and Trailing Hemispheres as Revealed by ALMA
We present best-fit values of porosity — and the corresponding effective thermal inertiae — determined from three different depths in Europa’s near-subsurface (~1-20 cm). The porosity of the upper ~20 […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Modeling Ocean Dynamics On Earth: Applications For Understanding Other Water Worlds
Editor’s note: one of the things we are looking for as we examine the icy water worlds in our own solar system and exoplanets circling other stars are oceans. Earth […]
Posted inEuropa, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Oceanography Of Ice-Covered Moons
NASA-supported scientists have published a review of current knowledge regarding how ice-covered moons operate compared to Earth. The paper focuses on the interaction between ice and the liquid ocean of […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Impact events, Status Report
Thin Ice Lithospheres and High Heat Flows on Europa From Large Impact Structure Ring-graben
Craters are probes of planetary surface and interior properties. Here we measure depths, widths, and spacing of circumferential ring-graben surrounding the two largest multiring impact structures on Europa, Tyre and […]
Posted inCallisto, Europa, Ganymede, Io, Jupiter, Status Report
Influence Of The Jovian Current Sheet Models On The Mapping Of The UV Auroral Footprints Of Io, Europa, And Ganymede
The in-situ characterization of moon-magnetosphere interactions at Jupiter and the mapping of moon auroral footpaths require accurate global models of the magnetospheric magnetic field.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
High-gain Antenna Installed On The Europa Clipper Astrobiology Probe
The addition of a high-gain antenna will enable the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft in August 2023 – set to launch in October 2024 – to communicate with mission controllers hundreds […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Practicing For Ocean And Ice World Exploration: Mapping Earth’s Strongest Sea Current
Editor’s note: We have mission en route or soon to be launched to visit ice -covered ocean worlds in the Jovian system. Some day we’ll visit Enceladus and other ice-covered […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Proxima Centauri, TRAPPIST-1, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Some Icy Exoplanets May Have Habitable Oceans And Geysers
A NASA study expands the search for life beyond our solar system by indicating that 17 exoplanets (worlds outside our solar system) could have oceans of liquid water, an essential […]