Hi Jack,
If the cryobot sinks through the salt, how can it communicate with the outside world? The salt is a conductor, so it will absorb radiowaves. Will it communicate by sound (sonar), or by a simple cable to a station on the surface? I find it difficult to compare the cryobot with vehicles on earth. Would it resemble an icebreaker, that must withstand the large forces that try to break it up, but which easily can get stuck, for instance in faults? Would the surface contain many faults? Or would it be like a large coaldigger in a mine, which moves a lot of material, which has to be transported to the top. Or would it be like the drill that is used on Greenland to drill through the ice? Maybe it would be best to start with one or a few simple surface stations, in the hope that they can yield some more info on the ground underneath, for instance from seismic data. Anthonie Muller >If it can be determined that whatever salts are >present are of the Magnesium >Sulfate (wet variety), then the cryobot would be able >to melt through those >as well, as Epsom salts' melt point is about 200-250 C >I think. >Jack == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/
