QuoteBritish engineers report successful test of space penetrator
British engineers have told reporters that a test of their space penetrator has been conducted and all signs suggest it was a complete success. The space penetrator is a bullet shaped projectile with electronics inside. Its purpose is to hard-land on another planet or moon, penetrating the surface by up to ten feet, then radio back sensor information.
In the test, the penetrator was fired at a 10 tonne block of ice—it struck the block moving at approximately 340m/s, which is of course nearly the speed of sound. While the block of ice was reduced to a giant snow-cone, the electronic instruments inside the probe remained intact and in fact, continued to operate as planned, thanks to a spring mechanism engineers crafted to help soften the blow.
The main goal of the penetrator is to determine whether life exists on another planet or moon in our solar system. Currently, the hope is that it will be used on Jupiter's moon Europa, which is believed to be harboring a liquid ocean beneath its icy crust. The penetrator would be carried aboard a more traditional space craft then launched into orbit around a target as part of a satellite. At the appropriate time, a penetrator module would be ejected from the satellite. The module would consist of the penetrator and an engine component to propel the module to a desired location. Once that location is reached, the engine would be released and the penetrator would fall head first down to the surface below. Because of its high speed, it would make its way some distance below the surface before stopping.
The researchers report the test penetrator experienced 24,000g as it came to a rest. Once in place, the penetrator would then begin sending sensor data via radio messages to the satellite which would relay them back to Earth.
Representatives for the project team told the media that the penetrator could host a wide variety of sensors and could even carry a small drill for taking samples near the probe.
The penetrator project is being funded by the European Space Agency, though the agency has yet to decide whether the penetrator will ever actually be deployed. Researchers on the project say it will be ready for launch within a decade's time.
Link (//http://phys.org/news/2013-07-british-successful-space-penetrator.html)
My favorite comment:
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Because the best way for humans to go look for life is to shoot giant hunks of metal at it :D
But still, pretty awesome.
FISTING...HAHAHAHA
Thanks for the info! I thought it was going to be about a new Super Hero. :shock: Solitary
"Space Penetrator" sounds like something Robbaz would make.
Very Kerbal.
Yeah, looking at the thread title I was half expecting something from the Ann Summers Catalogue. I am disappoint. [-(
One problem with this - haven't we learned anything yet? Assuming that there IS life on Europa, what's to say that there is any near where this thing penetrates? A Martian probe landing in the middle of the Gobi would probably report that there's no life on Earth.
If that probe has any kind of decent sensor array, there's plenty of life going around in the desert. Probably wouldn't find evidence of humans, but loads of animals make it their home.
Space Penetrator....humanity is finally making steps towards its true purpose: Raping each and every planet.
In all seriousness, this thing is cool as hell and I up the best for it on its mission to fuck, then study, Europa.
Let's just hope that it's TOTALLY sterilized before it lands. Otherwise, in a few months or years it'll find DNA-based life and give us a totally false picture of things.
It's blasting through space, penetrating a planet's atmosphere at over the speed of sound, before cushioning its fall on bare rock... I'm pretty sure it's sterile by the time it lands :P
Flying through space doesn't sterilize, traveling through an atmosphere at the speed of sound doesn't sterilize and the landing would have to be hard enough to totally destroy the probe to completely sterilize it. Sterilization has to be done deliberately. Even a single microbial cyst surviving the landing could wipe out any life already there and replace it fast enough that we would think that it was the indigenous life.
I would hope that has been considered before sending the probe out. Though imagine how cool it would be if we were to deliberately kick start life on a planet/moon that was previously lifeless. Imagine how evolution would progress when a couple of extremophiles have dominion over an entire planet/moon.
QuoteFlying through space doesn't sterilize, traveling through an atmosphere at the speed of sound doesn't sterilize and the landing would have to be hard enough to totally destroy the probe to completely sterilize it.
Are you sure? If that's true then earth-based life is far tougher than I gave it credit for, and I consider it to be very hardy. But surviving atmospheric re-entry? That'd be impressive.
(And of course they'd take care to sterilize it before they send it in, I don't think they're that stupid :P)
Quote from: "Plu"QuoteFlying through space doesn't sterilize, traveling through an atmosphere at the speed of sound doesn't sterilize and the landing would have to be hard enough to totally destroy the probe to completely sterilize it.
Are you sure? If that's true then earth-based life is far tougher than I gave it credit for, and I consider it to be very hardy. But surviving atmospheric re-entry? That'd be impressive.
Not if the organisms weren't on a part of the vehicle that didn't get too hot.
Quote(And of course they'd take care to sterilize it before they send it in, I don't think they're that stupid :P)
Not stupid, but a single microbe spore or virus would be enough to contaminate an entire lifeless planet. And quite difficult to be absolutely certain we didn't miss. Nine nines is nowhere near being good enough in this case.