Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Sunday January 06 2019, @01:40AM   Printer-friendly
from the eat-your-heart-out,-Elon dept.

Tunneling into the Earth, mankind has reached a mere 7.5 miles total depth, taking 20 years to accomplish and still only penetrating about 1/3 of the way through the Earth's crust.

Researchers at the American Geophysical Union, however, are not satisfied and if they can't break that record on Earth, well, there are other options.

On Friday (Dec. 14) at the 2018 meeting of the American Geophysical Union, the researchers presented a proposal for a "tunnelbot" that would use nuclear power to melt a path downward through Europa's shell, "carrying a payload that can search for… evidence for extant/extinct life."

The proposed tunnelbot would deploy repeaters at depths of 5, 10 and 15km to relay information. Well past the depth of any hole ever drilled on Earth, and hopefully reaching the Jovian moon's inferred liquid saltwater ocean at an estimated depth of between 10-30km

I wonder if it will need bumpers on the sides like things closer to home?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Sunday January 06 2019, @09:25PM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Sunday January 06 2019, @09:25PM (#782853) Journal
    It means someone will get a cool shot from orbit. I could care less about what happens to the probe at that point, but I'd have to try.