^Crake: Sub sends signal to the "nuclear torpedo", which is connected by wire to the surface landing module, which relays the signal to the orbiting craft, which uses the powerful antenna array to send it to Earth. Complex and one-way communication, but nothing NASA hasn't attempted to solve before. Unless they send it in metric...

^cybrbeast: I'm aware of the Drake Equation and it's implications on finding life within our own solar system. But when we're going specifically into places where we expect life to be possible, it's best to be too cautious than to assume there's nothing there, imo.
As for the likelihood of life under all that ice with no sunlight: If you watch the entire film, you see that they are in fact following a team of ocean explorers which take subs to the deepest parts man can survive in, in order to find new life, new species and understand how life survives there at all.
Europa is believed to have a molten core (which is the reason there's an ocean there at all, presumably), and is not just a big slab of ice. If that's the case, there might be Thermal Vents there, which allow life to exist on Earth in environments previously thought to be impossible.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is, let's go on a mission to see if there's life on Europa, while actually preparing to find said life, and not just doing it to mark a checkbox and say "Europa? Meh, been there, done that, got the T-Shirt".

demon, it seems unlikely that there will be complex bigger lifeforms. That is because at least on Earth oxygen respiration is required to sustain energetic multicellular creatures. No sunlight reaches the depth of Europa so oxygen generating photosynthesis is unlikely. So if we only harm a small place in, the worst case scenario of a leak or meltdown, then I don't think it would matter that much on a planetary scale. However leaving the reactor in the water will doubtlessly cause it to leak after decades or centuries. Maybe they could drive the meltprobe back up a bit after the mission is done. If it then locks into the ice it should remain so.

Crake for communication a wire would bring problems as you say. What they could do, is drop radio beacons at certain distances along the way down which could then relay the signal back up the surface. Or maybe use really longwave radio signals which might be able to penetrate the ice, though could only carry very low bandwidth.

^ Yes, but it's the local effect that might be problematic, isn't it? Let's assume we find some aliens there. Maybe it never occurred to them that there might be something above that massive layer of ice they call "sky". All of a sudden, something huge drills near one of their vacation spots, and starts releasing toxic materials into the water. That's something you would want to avoid in your first-encounter scenario, no?

On the pollution side, we're still debating whether or not our own massive industrial machine is capable of making a dent in our own planet's environment, so what's one tiny probe on a moon like Europa?

No, Europa has a negligible atmosphere, so there won't be a re-entry burn. Sterilizing the probe will be one of the biggest challenges. (Earth) life is very hardy and has traveled with Apollo to the Moon and back (on the outside of the craft).
I also very much doubt a probe, even if it leaks, would damage the environment much, only very locally. Europa should have a vast ocean and Uranium doesn't dissolve that quickly. The oceans of Europa might contain some uranium already, just like Earth's ocean at 3 parts per billion (or 10^13 kg (2 × 10^13 lb) total). That's 10 with 13 zeroes.

>> ^cybrbeast:
I don't see the problem with a nuclear power plant. It's designed so that there's not too much fall-out if the rocket would fail during launch.
And about contaminating another planet. You should know that the Jupiter system already has an extraordinarily intense radiation due to the strong magnetic field. Furthermore a reactor might help in heating and sterilizing the probe to remove any Earth life, which might be a far bigger threat to the alien life if it's there.


Hmmn good point regarding Jupiter's radiation belt, but there must still be balance which could potentially be disrupted. And I'd think the Thermosphere would do a decent job of burning up and sterilising that earth junk no?

EU administration is a joke. they made Siim Kallas, who "lost" 10M $ while he was president of Bank of Estonia, a commissioner for audit and anti-fraud

and Jacques Barrot, EU Justice Commissioner, certainly has a lot of experience of France’s criminal justice system, since he was convicted of fraud and theft of over 2M €. his sins were automatically erased in 1995, when Chirac granted him presidential amnesty

lots of other examples, too. I recommend you visit this site: http://www.snouts-in-the-trough.com

http://ec.europa.eu/unitedkingdom/press/euromyths/index_en.htm

You silly islanders.

^ because, just as on the planetary scale?
we don't have the right to all those resources, on the cosmological scale.

we're not the only ones in this universe.
just the only ones we know of so far, which means almost nothing.
and would mean even less to an immortal.

sorry if i inspired a derailment, joe.
and season's greetings from europa, dag.

I do feel a bit heavier, but I suspect that is caused by more local factors.

In reply to this comment by my15minutes:
so, is it me? or do you also feel a little heavier since last week?

anyway, i needed to make one small correction, below your celestial comment...
extremely small correction. 3 pixels, by 2 pixels, by 1 pixel.

In reply to this comment by gwiz665:
Reminds me of 2010 when Europa implodes to make a star.

so, is it me? or do you also feel a little heavier since last week?

anyway, i needed to make one small correction, below your celestial comment...
extremely small correction. 3² pixels, by 2² pixels, by 1 pixel.

In reply to this comment by gwiz665:
Reminds me of 2010 when Europa implodes to make a star.

^ close. that was jupiter imploding.

europa is life's backup plan.

"Unfortunately, the real benefits of this package risk being undermined by alarmist scaremongering that it will cause certain websites to be blocked, and consumers prosecuted for copyright abuse."

In order to address public interest issues with respect to the use of communications services, and to encourage protection of the rights and freedoms of others, the relevant national authorities should be able to produce and have disseminated, with the aid of providers, information related to the use of communications services. This information should include warnings regarding copyright infringement, other unlawful uses and dissemination of harmful content(...)

Management of networks in order to, for example, address congestion and capacity constraints and to enable new services should not per se be considered an example of a restriction requiring intervention, and due account should be taken of the right of network and service operators to diversify their offerings in a competitive market, including through the imposition of reasonable usage restrictions, price differentiation and other legitimate competitive practices.

MEPs debated the reform of the regulatory framework for electronic communications - including mobile and fixed telephones, broadcasting and the internet. The telecoms package seeks to strengthen consumer rights and privacy protection, to ensure a consistent application of regulatory measures and to modernise radio spectrum use. The entire European Parliament will vote on the package during the second September plenary
(...)
Finally, Ms Trautmann regretted that the intellectual property rights issue had arisen now, and felt that it should be resolved without substantially changing the proposal.

Reminds me of 2010 when Europa implodes to make a star.

Wow. I was going to make some silly joke about it being CGI. You know me, always keeping it serious, right? But, once I scrolled maybe halfway down the page, I was pretty much speechless. That's really amazing. Especially seeing Europa up close and personal like that! How cool was that?!

Satan bless science!