This is a great time to be alive. In the last couple of days I've read a several pages about a very interesting discovery. Since the Voyager and Galileo spacecrafts first photographed Jupiter's moon, Europa, scientists have wondered about liquid water underneath that icy moon. Sure, it's way too far away from the sun, but watch out, Jupiter's pull is nothing to sneeze about. Scientists have theorized the tidal forces under Europa's ice would be massive, but how to directly observe it? Using the Hubble telescope, they got lucky: Scientists observed liquid water erupting in the form of a geyser. Since we know Jupiter's moons are chock full of volcanic activity, the chance of finding life, even microbial life, skyrocketed. I would go so far as to say from possible to probable.
Right now there is debate about how thick the ice on Europa is, and that's just it: we really won't know until we get there. There is what scientists believe is a lake under the ice.
Let's postulate on what we already know. Life does not require light to exist. Chemosynthesis, the process of obtaining nutrients from methane or hydrogen gas, is an established fact.
All the puzzle pieces are there. The only way we are going to be sure is by going out there.
The nonprofit Mars One already has 200,000 applicants for a proposed colonization of Mars. You read that right. They plan on putting an unmanned probe and satellite in geosynchronous orbit by 2018. This is all in preparation to send colonists on a one way ticket to the red planet. Oh, and they're going to make it a reality show. That's one reality show I'd watch. Take that, Jersey Shore. Wait... if they send that idiot, what's her name, Snookie? I'll still watch it. I might be on to something here. By sending morons out to colonize other planets, would we be raising the intellect level of Earth? Forget Costa Rica, Rush. We want to send you to Olympus Mons.
Right now there is debate about how thick the ice on Europa is, and that's just it: we really won't know until we get there. There is what scientists believe is a lake under the ice.
Let's postulate on what we already know. Life does not require light to exist. Chemosynthesis, the process of obtaining nutrients from methane or hydrogen gas, is an established fact.
All the puzzle pieces are there. The only way we are going to be sure is by going out there.
The nonprofit Mars One already has 200,000 applicants for a proposed colonization of Mars. You read that right. They plan on putting an unmanned probe and satellite in geosynchronous orbit by 2018. This is all in preparation to send colonists on a one way ticket to the red planet. Oh, and they're going to make it a reality show. That's one reality show I'd watch. Take that, Jersey Shore. Wait... if they send that idiot, what's her name, Snookie? I'll still watch it. I might be on to something here. By sending morons out to colonize other planets, would we be raising the intellect level of Earth? Forget Costa Rica, Rush. We want to send you to Olympus Mons.
1 comment:
I was fortunate in the 80's, my father helped design some systems of Galileo. What an incredible machine that was. Dad would bring home graphics of the designs for me as a kid. I could only dream what this would do many years later.
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