![]() In the coming years, multiple missions have been proposed to explore Europa, including NASA’s Europa Clipper mission and the ESA’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE). ![]() This, in turn, could facilitate the search for life in Europa’s interior ocean. If all goes well, the ice-penetrating technology used by ARCHIMEDES may enable future missions to Europa that will be able to efficiently access and analyze the liquid water environment beneath its icy crust. The PI has also initiated trade studies and design activities for the integrated fiber instruments.Īfter the prototype is complete, its performance will be assessed in harsh environmental conditions similar to those that exist on Europa’s surface. Under the supervision of the project’s Principle Investigator (PI), several direct laser penetrator design studies and laboratory experiments have been conducted. The technology development project commenced on March 1st, 2017, and has made significant progress since then. “This unique approach to ice penetration is advantageous in that it can readily be integrated with a dedicated sensor fiber, which can also accommodate instruments capable of searching for biomarkers and characterizing the radiation/light environment.” Artist’s impression of a water vapor plume on Europa. This method of ice-mining, as indicated in the report, offers numerous advantages: The mission’s approach involves using laser light directed from a nose cone to efficiently penetrate hundreds of meters of ice. The concept was first introduced as part of NASA’s 2017 Science Mission Directorate Technology Highlights Report. ![]() Peter Doran (a Louisiana State University geologist), the company is focused on technologies that facilitate the exploration of underground and underwater environments. Bill Stone (a famed engineer and cave explorer) and Dr. To create this penetrator, NASA has contracted with Stone Aerospace, a Texas-based company that specializes in human exploration technologies. With ARCHIMEDES, the goal is to create a prototype direct-laser penetrator that will be able to cut through the surface ice efficiently so that evidence of life can be more easily detected. This program supports the development of spacecraft-based instruments and technology that will enable exploration and sample acquisition on ocean worlds like Europa, Enceladus, and Titan. In this case, sponsorship is being provided through the SMD Planetary Science Division’s Concepts for Ocean Worlds Life Detection Technology (COLDTech) program.Ĭonceptual design of ARCHIMEDES operating on Europa. The ARCHIMEDES concept is part of a two-year program being run by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) to foster the development of ice-penetration technologies. This mission could provide future missions with access to the ocean that exists beneath Europa’s surface and enable the search for life there. One of these concepts is known as the Cool High Impact Method for Exploring Down into Europan Subsurface (ARCHIMEDES), a proposed direct-laser penetrator that will use a laser light carried by an optical fiber tether to penetrate Europa’s icy crust. Beyond Earth, it is considered one of the most promising candidates for finding life, which could exist in the subsurface ocean that lies beneath the moon’s icy crust. Ever since the Pioneer and Voyager probes passed through the Jovian system in the 1970s, NASA and other space agencies have dreamed of one-day sending a mission to Europa.
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