What probes can be used to explore the depths of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europe, and other oceanic worlds throughout the solar system? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference expects to address, since a team of researchers participated through the project recognition of oceanic worlds and characterization of astrobiological analogues (Orcaa) to investigate how the criobots to explore the oceans of other worlds in our solar system.
For the study, the researchers carried out a field investigation in 2023 in the Juneau ice field in Alaska, which houses 100 small glaciers and more than 40 large glaciers, and includes an area of approximately 3,900 square kilometers. The team has a second field investigation scheduled for the summer of 2025, the first took place in the echo glacier and the next investigation will take place in North Basin.
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Jesús Díaz
Hot water drill
For 2023 research, the researchers tested a hot water drill designed to penetrate the echo glacier and reach the rocky bed, collect samples and return them to the surface. In the end, the researchers identified small amounts of Adenosín Triffosphate (ATP) and chlorophyll (Chla)which are used for cellular energy and photosynthesis, respectively, both in the lake and in the well, with greater amounts of ATP and chla identified in red snow algae.
The researchers also evaluated the general operative aspect of the study, which plan to improve in the next 2025 summer field investigation in North Basin. The main difference between field investigations of 2023 and 2025 will be the use of a Creobot instead of the Hot water drill, which will be used specifically to simulate drilling through the ice layer of Europe.
The study concludes by stating: “We will simulate complete command cycles and the autonomy of the Creobot to determine how and when scientists and autonomous systems discover indicators of change in the physical environment, the habitability and the biological communities, and to characterize the requirements of temporal and spatial fidelity of the observations. ”
This study occurs when the NASA Europe Clipper mission is currently on the way to the icy moon and is scheduled to perform 49 elliptical orbits of Europe from April 2030. The reason why the elliptical orbits were chosen for the design of the mission is to avoid prolonged exposure to the massive radiation belts of Jupiter, which could damage critical components of the spaceship. Using its set of scientific instruments, Clipper will evaluate the habitability potential of Europe, you will obtain New images of the surface and identify “hot spots” where the ice layer is thinner, which could indicate locations for future landing modules to pierce.
