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Old 09-April-2007, 10:50 PM
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Default Moons of Jupiter and Saturn

Ok forget for a moment cost safety and any other legistics...
If you were given the chance to land on and explore any of the Moons of Jupiter or saturn which would it be:
Io, Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, Europa, Enceladus, or another moon?
My personal Choice would be Europa, or any other moon that has a good chance at harboring life.
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Old 10-April-2007, 12:06 AM
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I'd go with Europa as well. The moons of Jupiter and Saturn are my current favorite things to learn about. Europa has a lot of evidence that shows it could have a liquid ocean under its super cold surface. It has tidal heating that keeps it warm. The surface has very few craters, which shows that it’s probably been repaved by liquid water occasionally bubbling up to the surface. It also has features on the surface that resemble flood plains. I also thought it was neat that Europa has a magnetic field that might be explained by a salty ocean. With all these ideas that point at a liquid ocean under the icy surface, I really want to know if it exists. I’d say that if life is going to exist somewhere in our solar system, Europa would be a good place to start checking.

I also find the idea of lakes of methane/hydrocarbons on Titan pretty fascinating. Plus Titan has its own atmosphere. And just a little off topic, the moons of Jupiter and Saturn always reminded me or really cool marbles. It would be awesome to have a set of marbles that resembled the photographs of the moons, especially Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
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Old 10-April-2007, 10:32 AM
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I would go for Enceladus because it seems to have warm liquid water right at the surface. No digging, drilling, melting or other magic required, just don't forget to pack your swimsuit. I go nowhere if they don't have a beach!

BTW. I wish those Europa diggers the best of luck. Before you're a meter down in the ice you're toasted in Jupiter's radiation. And then you have only 24999 meters to go...
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Old 10-April-2007, 03:06 PM
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Europa narrowly edges out Titan for me; I think the confirmation of a deep, liquid water ocean there would be the greatest discovery in Solar System exploration short of finding life itself. As much as I root for New Horizons, I still lament the fact that it won out over a Europa Orbiter (which btw, according to the original plans would have been launched by now)--or rather, I wish both had been possible with the extant funds.

The geology of Titan would be magnificent though--so similar to Earth with its stream and shoreline processes, and so different in gravity and composition. Europa's lead is narrow indeed.
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Old 10-April-2007, 03:24 PM
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Titan.
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Old 10-April-2007, 03:52 PM
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I'd like a house right on top of the central peak of the crater Herschel, on Mimas. Of course, I had my mind warped at an early age by the Chesley Bonestell painting of Saturn from Mimas
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