-----Original Message-----
From: Jayme Blaschke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Monday, February 26, 2001 6:49 AM
Subject: Europa submersible hypothetical
>And on an unrelated note, speculation is that the ocean is extrememly heavy
in salts and sulfuric acid, right? So what would Europan seawater smell like
if exposed to air? Sulphur stink? Ordinary saltwater? Or something else
entirely?
>
Well, it would probaly be pretty stinky -- although one thing made painfully
clear at the Ames "Europa Focus Group" I attended is that we have no really
good data whatsoever about what kind of materials may be mixed with the
water. The only conclusion that could be reached is that there are a lot of
sulfur compounds -- sulfuric acid, elemental sulfur and/or sulfate salts.
In fact, Europa's water may well be so salty that the serious possibility
was raised that a Europa Cryobot, in the process of melting its way through
even a few meters of ice, would find itself solidly encased in crystallized
salts -- making a mechanical drill in the nose an equal necessity.
Bruce Moomaw
==
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