BARROW, Alaska, Sept. 25 (UPI) — No spacecraft has landed on Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon.
It may be some time before that changes — both NASA and ESA are planning orbital missions to the moon — but when it does, scientists hope they’ll be able to explore beneath Europa’s icy surface, not just on top.
NASA scientists are currently testing a prototype rover that can drive upside down. Like a reversible jacket, the literally named Buoyant Rover is designed to drive on the underside of Europa’s icy crust, giving scientists an underwater view of Europa’s ocean floor.
Recently, scientists tested Europa under the frozen surfaces of arctic lakes near Barrow, Alaska. The rover proved effective. Researchers found areas of thin ice where the rover could break through. Once underneath, the rover’s buoyancy pushes it to the top where the wheels gain traction on the underbelly of the lake’s icy surface.
Cameras can look both down and up. On Europa, scientists will be most interested in studying the mechanisms — like the potential presence of methane seeps and hydrothermal vents — that keep the moon’s salty ocean layer unfrozen.
For now, researchers are using the Buoyant Rover to study methane seeps in Alaska’s arctic lakes.
“Our research up in the Arctic has this win-win where,” NASA scientist Kevin Hand says in a new video on their ongoing work.
“By studying the methane that’s trapped in these lakes and coming out of the permafrost, we’re helping to quantify the the greenhouse gas emissions that are affecting climate change,” Hand continues, “while simultaneously building a vehicle and a scientific platform that serves as a precursor for something that may someday fly to Europa or Enceladus or one of the other moons that harbors an ocean.”
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