Seems like the surface is a layer of successive upwellings that refroze, so salt accumulation as a probe melts its way through is a real threat. The sulfates have very low hardness, so it probably won't take much of a drill to clear the path. Since they readily dissolve in water it may be possible to somehow have the sub create a water jet to carve its way through. If a traditional drill head is used, maybe the drill teeth can be modified so they can be used as a propeller in liquid water? Same true of the water jet; it could be a duel purpose drill/propulsion system? Any guesses how to engineer a workable waterjet in the weird environment of europa? Just crazy thoughts.
I thought it interesting that the idea of large gas pockets building up under the crust was mentioned in these articles. Maybe that's a real concern for the probe as it creates a weak spot in the crust? In any case, it seems like the upwelling is either highly episodic (on the scale of geologic epochs), or ceased around 20 million years ago. It was also hypothesized that the crust is on average 10km thick... and I guess that should be the target requirement for the sub?
I guess that's my speculation for the day!
Cheers,
Tom
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