In a message dated 2/27/2001 8:22:07 AM Alaskan Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> As for burning sulfur for fuel: keep in mind that you have to burn it WITH
> something, and Europa is singularly short on free oxygen (although it does
> have a little, thanks to the breakdown of water ice by Jupiter's
radiation).
> I don't know what happens when you react sulfur with hydrogen peroxide
> (which Europa does have in considerable amounts).
Hmm... it appears that the only reason, from Bruce's response, to go to the
Jovian moons is to satisfy a scientific reason, and that may not be
compelling enough to justify the costs.
Is Jovian gravity so strong that it would significantly impact operations on
Europa or Io? Couldn't Jovian radiation be avoided by sending in remote
probes and machines, operated from a more distant orbit?
I suppose I, like many others, have been infected with the idea that the
various bodies of the solar system are all potential resource mines,
promising huge fortunes in whatever it is that would compel people to go
there. If the conditions are just too cost extravagant, however, then are we
humans destined to spend eternity on our little terrestial abode?
On a lighter note: considering Europa's surfeit of water, sulfa, and
hydrogen peroxide, if a speculative astronaut ever got a cut on his little
star-faring finger, he would have plenty of local antiseptic.
-- John Harlow Byrne
==
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