A location often earmarked as a potential habitat for extra-terrestrial life could prove to be a tricky place for spacecraft to land, new research has revealed.
A location often earmarked as a potential habitat for extra-terrestrial life could prove to be a tricky place for spacecraft to land, new research has revealed.
A team led by scientists from Cardiff University has predicted that fields of sharp ice growing to almost 15 metres tall could be scattered across the equatorial regions of Jupiter’s moon, Europa.
Previous space missions have already identified Europa as one of the likeliest destinations for harbouring life in our solar system, most notably because of the large seas of liquid water underneath its surface.
In a new study published today in Nature Geoscience scientists state that any potential landing mission may have to navigate hazardous obstacles known as ‘penitentes’ before touching down on Europa’s surface.
Read more at Cardiff University
Image: Jupiter's moon. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute)
