Date: Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:45:05 -0500
From: mark <whitroth at 5-cent.us>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: "NASA ignores Arthur C. Clarke, may attempt landings on Europa"
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

Mike B. wrote:
> On 12/11/2011 6:30 PM, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
>> Michael Walsh<walshmichaelj at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>> And here's the story that followed the headline:
>>> http://dvice.com/archives/2011/12/nasa-ignores-ar.php
>> Interesting.  I wonder just how thick the ice is.  Would scuba diving
>> be possible there?  I know that scuba dry suits allow diving in
>> freezing-cold water, and that special gas mixtures allow diving at
>> pressures up to 50 atmospheres.  And since Europa's gravity is a lot
>> lower than Earth's, that allows for a considerable thickness of ice
>> before the pressure under the ice gets too high.
>
> http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/europa/thickice/  says at least 19
> kilometers.
>
>> I know of at least three other places in the solar system (other than
>> Earth, of course) where a spacesuit shouldn't be needed:
>>
>> * Floating in a balloon over Venus.  There's an altitude where the
>>    temperature and pressure are both reasonable.  You would need an
>>    oxygen mask, of course.  But note that in that atmosphere, oxygen
>>    is a lift gas, so it can do double duty.
>
> If you have power you should be able to generate it from the CO2, so you
> don't have to bring it with you.
<snip>
And my instant reaction to this is a steampunk paradise....

mark