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Europa's Icy Shell: A Bridge Between Its Surface and OceanEuropa, a Moon-sized, ice-covered satellite of Jupiter, is second only to Mars in its astrobiological potential. Beneath the icy surface, an ocean up to 150 km deep is thought to exist, providing a potential habitat for life,and a tempting target for future space missions. The Galileo mission to the Jovian system recently ended, but there are already long-range plans to send much more capable spacecraft,such as the proposed Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO), to take a closer look at Europa and her siblings, Ganymede and Callisto, some time in the next two decades. Europak outer icy shell is the only interface between this putative ocean and the surface, but many aspects of this shell are presently poorly understood; in particular, its composition, thickness, deformational history, and mechanical properties. To discuss the ice shell and our current understanding of it, 78 scientists from the terrestrial and planetary science communities in the United States and Europe gathered for a 3-day workshop hosted by the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston in February. A key goal was to bring researchers from disparate disciplines together to discuss the importance and limitations of available data on Europa with a post-Galileo perspective. The workshop featured 2 days of reviews and contributed talks on the composition, physical properties, stratigraphy, tectonics, and future exploration of the ice shell and underlying ocean. The final morning included an extended discussion period, moderated by a panel of noted experts, highlighting outstanding questions and areas requiring future research.
Document ID
20060009460
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Schenk, Paul
(Lunar and Planetary Inst. Houston, TX, United States)
Mimmo, Francis
(California Univ. Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Prockter, Louise
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
August 17, 2004
Publication Information
Publication: EOS, Transactions
Publisher: American Geophysical Union
Volume: 85
Issue: 33
ISSN: 0096-3941
Subject Category
Geophysics
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NCC5-679
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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