In a message dated 2/26/2001 6:13:18 AM Alaskan Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> >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, or any industrialist out there... what can you DO with all that
sulfur? Can it be used for fuel, of any variety?
-- JHB
==
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