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Everybody Loves Science!
J:
now this is interesting...
--- Quote from: NASA is being forced by the US government to fly a mission to Europa – the most likely place we’ll find alien life in the Solar System ---
n a rather intriguing twist, it appears that NASA is now mandated by law to fly a robotic mission to Jupiter’s watery moon Europa. Europa is an incredibly exciting science target, as it’s believed to have a 100-kilometer-thick (62 miles) outer layer of water, with water ice on top (it’s very cold out there) and a liquid water ocean beneath that. It’s believed that there’s more water on Europa than the entirety of Earth, despite being just a quarter the width of Earth. As we continue to learn more about the tenacious lifeforms found in deep, cold waters here on Earth, excitement grows over the possibility of Europa’s oceans harboring extraterrestrial life.
Up until the ’70s, the prevailing theory was that all life on Earth was dependent on energy from the Sun (i.e. everything ultimately revolves around photosynthesizing plants). Then, in 1977, an exploratory dive in the Galapagos Rift discovered giant tube worms, clams, and other crustaceans that survived without any access to the Sun. As it turned out, they were feeding on bacteria that got their energy from hydrogen and hydrogen sulfide emanating from underwater volcanic vents. There was a whole food chain down there that didn’t rely on the Sun at all. Cue much excited theorizing about the possibility of finding life in Europa’s massive oceans.
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Europa (bottom left), Moon (top left), Earth (right) – size comparison
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By the time the Voyager probes had flown through the Jovian system in 1979, scientists were fairly sure that Europa had an icy crust, and possibly a liquid ocean beneath. Further investigation by Galileo and New Horizons have provided yet more data (and some lovely images, such as the one at the top of the story, captured by Galileo). Now, we’re almost certain that there’s liquid water on Europa — and so the next stage is sending some kind of robotic probe or rover out there, to do some real, up-close-and-personal science.
And this is the weird bit: It seems, thanks to Houston Congressman John Culberson, who appears to be a bit of a science nerd, that NASA is now mandated by law to develop a mission to Europa. Culberson is basically forcing this mission upon NASA: In 2013 and 2014, despite NASA not requesting any money for a Europa mission, Culberson gave it $43 million and $80 million respectively. In the 2014 budget bill, finalized in December, there’s not a single mention of Mars or the Moon, but Europa’s right there on page 159. Culberson is expected to become the next chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee, too — and if that happens, NASA may find itself very flush indeed. This is rather refreshing, after years of budget cuts/stagnation!
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Europa poster diagram, showing its (theorized) structure
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In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Culberson had these rather uplifting words to say about Europa in specific and space exploration in general:
--- Quote --- If I’m successful in becoming chairman of the subcommittee that’s going to be right when the Europa mission will need its maximum funding. It needs to be a flagship mission. The biggest and best we’ve ever flown … I got on this incredible committee where I will be in exactly the right place at the right time to be able to help turn NASA around, to not only preserve America’s leadership role in space, but I also hope to be a key part in discovering life on another world for the first time. We’re only going to have one chance at this in our lifetimes. We’ve got one shot. I want to make sure you and I are here to see those first tube worms and lobsters on Europa.
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As for an actual timeline for those first tube worms, if they exist, it’s still very, very early days. It seems, after two years of having money forced upon it, NASA finally caved and actually asked for $15 million in 2015 to help plan the Europa mission. All we really have to go on right now are the words of NASA’s CFO, Elizabeth Robinson, who said the launch could come as soon as the mid-2020s — probably after we launch the next Mars rover in 2020.
We are living in interesting times! Who knows, maybe it won’t be the next generation of space telescopes that discovers the first instance of extraterrestrial life — maybe it’ll be a NASA rover, right here in our own Solar System.
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ev4n:
Enceladus > Europa, but both are cool.
Case:
--- Quote from: GarandMarine on 10 Mar 2014, 19:31 ---http://www.fox.com/watch/183733315515
You owe it to yourself to watch the new Cosmos.
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COSMOS!?! Weeeeeeeearfghlblrlrb ...
The original series, and Carl Sagan, were a major influence in my life -> I'm earning my croissants as a physicist right now thanks to the virus that was planted into my defenseless, susceptible mind watching Cosmos as a kid. I recall that Mom told me about it because there was 'space' in the announcement in the listings magazine, and me being all exited because I thought it'd be something like Star Trek ... I was so very pissed during the first five minutes of watching it - I honestly felt cheated! "Meh! No Lasers, no aliens, no space battles. And who's that dude in the corduroy jacket? And a spaceship that looks like a flowerseed? You've got to shittin' me ... eeeeeeeee? Nuuuuuurrrrrrrrhh?Hmmmmmmmmmh!". This guy with his Gedankenexperiment-spaceship and his infectious enthusiasm and his curiosity - for everything, from supernovae to Heikegani crabs - did something to my brain.
It's a good thing Cosmos is continued! Get 'em while they're young ...
Anybody here read Contact?
P.S.: VeryVery sorry for the gushing & reminiscing, but ... weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ... Ahem ...!
P.P.S: GM? Broken link in the previous post about ceres & water vapors ...
--- Quote from: GarandMarine on 22 Jan 2014, 13:21 ---Another extremely cool science follow up! http://www.nbcnews.com/science/there-life-ceres-dwarf-planet-spews-water-vapor-space-2D11970722
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J:
unfortunately, it seems not everyone shares your enthusiasm
--- Quote from: Oklahoma Fox station removes evolution from ‘Cosmos’ by cutting only 15 seconds ---In what appeared to be an editing error, a Fox affiliate in Oklahoma managed to remove the only mention of evolution from Sunday night’s Cosmos science documentary by cutting only 15 seconds from the broadcast.
The much-anticipated reboot of Carl Sagan’s legendary Cosmos premiered on Sunday with an overview of the history of the Universe, from the Big Bang to the advent of humans.
It wasn’t until the last 10 minutes of the show that host Neil deGrasse Tyson hinted at human evolution.
“We are newcomers to the Cosmos,” he explained. “Our own story only begins on the last night of the cosmic year.”
“Three and a half million years ago, our ancestors — your and mine left these traces,” Tyson said, pointing to footprints. “We stood up and parted ways from them. Once we were standing on two feet, our eyes were no longer fixated on the ground. Now, we were free to look up and wonder.”
But for viewers of KOKH-TV in Oklahoma City, that 15 second paragraph was replaced by an awkwardly-inserted commercial for the evening news. The edit was caught on video and uploaded to YouTube by Adam Bates.
At least one of the segments advertised in the news promo — a story about a 12-year-old bow hunter — did air on that evening’s newscast.
Watch the edited and original versions of Cosmos below, broadcast March 9, 2013.
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GarandMarine:
Oh there's plenty of morons butt hurt about Cosmos out there: http://thedailybanter.com/2014/03/the-christian-zealot-reaction-to-last-nights-cosmos-debut-is-about-what-youd-expect/
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