24 October 2014 Astrobiology: Another Cool Polar Science Project

Astrobiology: Another Cool Polar Science Project

Because we are in a bit of holding pattern until we leave for Lake Joyce, I had some time to interview another very interesting scientist here in the Crary Lab. Its really inspiring to talk with the science teams down here! Everyone is so passionate about their research, and their excitement is palpable.

Dr. Britney Schmidt is from Georgia Institute of Technology, and she focuses on geophysics and space physics. The goal of her NASA-funded research is to learn more about the habitability of Europa, a moon of Jupiter, by studying Antarctica.

There are some similarities between Antarctica and Europa. The ice shelf around the continent here is the closest model we have here on Earth for the ice that lies 20-30 km thick on Europa. However, while Antarctica is hard to get to, its not as hard as going to Europa. If we ever hope to go there and study it, we need to develop tools, techniques and the ability to interpret what we might find there.

Dr. Schmidt's team has two ROVs (Remote Operated Vehicles). One is called SCINI (Submersible Capable of under Ice Navigation and Imaging) and the other is Icefin. The team will use a hot water blaster to melt a hole through the ice shelf that surrounds Antarctica, which can be up to 100 meters thick. Then they will send their ROV's through the hole melted. Once down there, SCINI and Icefin will move along the underside of the ice, using their instrumentation to document what they see.

Is there life on the underside of the ice shelf? Is there life in the ice? What about interactions between the ocean and the ice? Sometimes ocean water is added to the ice shelf from below, and we'd like to learn more about this process. The goal is to understand these dynamic processes better here, so we can figure out what might be happening on Europa.

The ROVs are also meant to work in tandem with remote sensors in the air. There's a DC-3 aircraft that uses radar waves that can penetrate the ice shelf from above. The ROVs inform us of what conditions under the ice actually are, so that in the future (like on a mission to Europa) if all we have is an aerial radar view, we'll know how to interpret what we see with it, even if we aren't able to send a submersible there.

Yet.