Private space company swung at interplanetary flights. The author of another audacious project wants to scrape the Jupiter's moon Europe. Specialists told the details of the mission. and also explained why choose such a clever way perforation ice shield and what do you get if you act in a more effective way.

Private space

First flight to the International space station ship Dragon 22 may finally laid to private companies the way to space. transport ship commissioned by the NASA company SpaceX, to replace retired space shuttles. And it is possible that this is not the only private project that will result in success. Ideas to use in those or other space projects of development of private commercial firms increasingly heard in the US. In room 10 (12) "Parts of the world," wrote about the initiative of the American enthusiasts space to get in the interests of the Terran ore on asteroids. And six months ago in the United States has proposed a project on sending to the Titan (a moon of Saturn) research airplane with a nuclear power plant. some such projects in NASA seriously: for example with the ship Dragon has shown that it is more efficient to invest in the original private space startups than to continue to feed ossified company mastodons American space industry.

Flight to Europe

One of such original projects held in April in Atlanta conference on astrobiology was an American inventor bill stone (Bill Stone). Engineers his private research firm Stone Aerospace to develop VA ut University and local nd project robot that will be able alone to explore the icy satellites of giant planets. while the main purpose for it is Europe - the smallest of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter.

Europe is one of the most interesting satellites in the Solar system - has long attracted scientists. It is considered that the hard surface of the satellite covered by the water layer thickness up to 100 kilometers in part in the form of ice surface crust thickness 10-30 kilometers. Many scientists believe that the tidal influence of Jupiter and cracks in the crust, permeable to oxygen, it can allow different life forms to exist in this under-ice ocean.

Fiber lasers

According to the developers, their child can explore subglacial lakes in Antarctica, and in the future - to conquer the icy satellites of planets of the Solar system. In the basis of innovation is an idea to create a penetrator, is able to heat the ice using a heavy duty infrared laser, which will allow it to sink further and further into the depths of the ice crust. "Our goal for the next three years is to use patinirovanie laser to promote our cryobot to a depth of 250 metres. All evidence indicates that there is nothing that could to stop us. But, from my point of view, this all - children's games compared to the fact that we can," said bill stone.

However, many kilometres of the crust of ice, hiding the ocean, is the most difficult obstacle to study it. In order to drill or to melt the ice, it required a lot of heat capacity. Solar panels are thin and can not work under the ice, and electric batteries will not last long. Therefore stone has offered to leave on a surface of the satellite energy stations (for example, nuclear mini-reactor), which will create a laser beam, and bind her thin fiber-optic cable with probe-penetrator. On the idea of the creators, the probe will be unwinding kilometers of cable, melting ice and finally reaches under-ice ocean. There he will be able to conduct scientific research, to collect samples of the environment. Having finished studies, the probe will begin to melt the way up, sealing a done hole.

"All great ideas necessary fundamentals. Some ten years ago the foundations for this project did not exist," said the expert in the field of optics, the main developer of the project Bart Hogan (Bart Hogan). According to the authors of the project, they were able to piece together the latest developments from completely different areas of science and technology, in which scientists even don't guess about the successes and achievements of their colleagues. "As if they were all engaged in the improvement of lenses for spectacles production, and someone would say: "Stand still, and let's collect these lenses together and build a telescope?", - said Hogan.

Stone thinking about the possibility power transmission using laser and fiber, working with others your child Antarctic ice machine ENDURANCE. Although swim in ice lake robot was offline, scientists watched as he makes decisions in difficult situations by means of an optical cable is thinner than a human hair (engineers called it controlled autonomy). At the same time, stone and wondered laser radiation power can transmit optical fiber: "This was a case, when the head is swept several thoughts. We sent photons through these cables, and I wondered how many of the photons we can skip". The answer was - a lot.

To fly or not to fly

Anyway, specialists clear that in the coming years no expedition to Europe will not fly. "We simply do not know whether the satellite's surface for landing of the descent module, and there needed to smooth landing places," said Robert Pappalardo, head of European studies of the jet propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for NASA's in Pasadena. according to him, recently the group of researchers "expressed serious concerns" about any lander mission on this satellite until fly and not thoroughly explores orbital or flying probe. "We have a number of images with a resolution of six meters per pixel, but its not enough to say something. And Enceladus, a moon of Saturn) on images with a resolution of four meters looks like countryside with terrible boulders," added the expert.

Colleagues stone has not yet explained how to solve some technical issues that will face the mission. According to rough estimates, for the generation of one watt laser radiation power station, standing on the surface, should generate about one hundred watts of electricity. And if it will be a radioisotope source (such as RTGs, used in the interplanetary missions), he will begin to produce about three kilowatts of heat. Not to give such a "hot plate" the most proplavit European ice - another technical problem.

How to melt a glacier

Stone convinced that the transfer of high-power fibre in the future will be able to move large vehicles and on Earth and in space. And NASA did not consider his ideas are ludicrous. While on field tests of the prototype of NASA identified four million dollars. In 2013, engineers plan to test it on the glacier Matan-ska in Alaska. And in the fall of 2014 prototype have to melt ice to a depth of 200 meters on the glacier in Greenland.

Vyacheslav Turyshev from the Group of relativistic astrophysics JPL for NASA, not by hearsay familiar with the problems of organization of interplanetary missions, looks at the idea of stone with great optimism. He explained in an interview to "Parts of the world," why such a method of melting ice is better than more efficient. For example, than the schema in which ice melts directly heat from radioactive source. "The collimated energy source that would not melted everything in its path, it makes sense, said Turyshev. - If you heat ice, some of radioisotope source, which will radiate heat in all directions, at 4P radian, he will fall and you will never see. If the vertical burning laser will work, maybe it will be the only way to drill through the ice. We only need to calculate energy consumption and to assess the realism".

According to Turysheva, private companies now become important partners of the global space agencies in the U.S. and around the world. "These companies very much, none of the expeditions NASA now is not without contribution from small companies, specialized on a specific tools. And this is already current practice", - he added.