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[AstroNut325]

Eh... to the people who are hoping to see a robot or human going to this place in our lifetime... please let your state and federal representatives know. Most of them see NASA as a waste of money.

Edit:
Most people in general see NASA as waste of money!

 

[RCSI]

How do you bore through all the ice to get to the water?

As the article points at, you don't need to bore when you can fly by the plumes while collecting samples.

 

[Himynameischris]

Sign me up!

 

[Guy.brush]

Funny coincidence: The 2008 draft of Nolan's INTERSTELLAR

Spoiler

also features a planet with a giant body of water underneath a kilometer thick crust of ice, Shielded from the radiation of a neighboring neutron star by the ice, some crazy lifeforms evolved down there.

 

[Tawpgun]

Drill baby drill

 

[Borgnine]

How come our moon is so boring compared to many of these larger Jupiter/Saturn moons...

It's actually really interesting, it's the biggest moon relative to the size of the planet it orbits. Phobos and Deimos, now those are some bitch moons.

 

[gutshot]

How come our moon is so boring compared to many of these larger Jupiter/Saturn moons...

There's your answer, right there. The moon doesn't have enough mass to hold an atmosphere and as a result is essentially just a giant rock floating in space.

 

[Evolved1]

How do you bore through all the ice to get to the water?

You melt your way through.

 

[FairyD]

I eagerly await until we find alien tube worms growing and feeding off sulfur.

Would be really cool if they were almost exactly like the tube worms that they find on earth.

 

[Vanillalite]

Sounds like a job for...

Space Doge!!

 

[Henchmen21]

There's your answer, right there. The moon doesn't have enough mass to hold an atmosphere and as a result is essentially just a giant rock floating in space.

I also thought it was once theorized that our moon was once a chunk of earth that got knocked off of us during our formation.

 

[Einbroch]

I freaking love space.

 

[_woLf]

NASA needs to start a kickstarter.

 

[Guy.brush]

I also thought it was once theorized that our moon was once a chunk of earth that got knocked off of us during our formation.

Not once. It is still the prevailing theory. Earth banged together with a primordial beauty named Theia.

Mathematical model animation of the impact:

 

[Omegasquash]

I also thought it was once theorized that our moon was once a chunk of earth that got knocked off of us during our formation.

I think that's the prevailing theory.

Edit: Beaten by a hair, but with a baseball bat.

 

[btrboyev]

I also thought it was once theorized that our moon was once a chunk of earth that got knocked off of us during our formation.

I don't think so. I know there is a theory, but it's hard to imagine.

 

[Neo C.]

How is it possible for those moons to have oceans, when even Mars doesn't have enough gravity to keep the water on the surface?

 

[AkuMifune]

So what's the reasonable chance of this = life?

If the ingredients are all there, and its had as much time or more as life on this planet to evolve...

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Nice to see this, has been speculated for a while.

 

[Fenderputty]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryobot

Fucking rad.

Lasers and cryobots.

 

[Volimar]

 

[Borgnine]

How is it possible for those moons to have oceans, when even Mars doesn't have enough gravity to keep the water on the surface?

It's trapped under ice. Like the Metallica song.

 

[Wawahead]

I think that's the prevailing theory.

Edit: Beaten by a hair, but with a baseball bat.

Too bad it's wrong. The moon is obviously an extraterrestrial space camera put in place to monitor us.

 

[Gorillaz]

NASA needs to start a kickstarter.

Then we can hope one day facebook will buy it up

 

[Chris R]

Watch Wonders of the Solar System presented by Brian Cox. There's an entire segment on just this moon and the discovery of the ice volcanoes. Link is at the end of the OP.

I'd watch it, but I'd have to mute it. I can't stand how Brian Cox talks.

 

[AkuMifune]

Too bad it's wrong. The moon is obviously an extraterrestrial space camera put in place to monitor us.

More likely to me than exploding out of the Earth and then colliding with another moon. Who makes up that crap?

I wonder if we'll ever be able to look into the past and watch this shit happen if we could create a machine that...I dunno, can see the light from when it happened bounce/reflected off of a star in Andromeda or something?*


* = Not actually a scientist.

 

[Acquiescence]

And with that, hot alien babes in bikinis can't be far behind.

 

[Grym]

I am gonna theorize that this is where all the mermaids are hiding

 

[Drazgul]

Aquatic aliens always suck, I hope our first encounter isn't with one of those.

 

[capslock]

A new ocean for us to fill with trash!

 

[Protein]

We need to steal that 32 trillion the elite of the world are hoarding, guillotine them, and give all that money to NASA. Then Star Trek.

 

[Schattenjäger]

Lolol

I love Gaf

 

[Rad-]

I think this is the moon that was most likely to have life in it even before this find. Now the chances have grown. Soon.

Spoiler

We will all die.

 

[HeisenbergLannister]

ALL HAIL OUR SATURIAN OVERLORDS!

 

[gutshot]

How is it possible for those moons to have oceans, when even Mars doesn't have enough gravity to keep the water on the surface?

Mars has plenty of water. It's all ice though. Most of it subterranean with the rest in the polar ice caps.

 

[StuBurns]

And at the dawn of the next cold war.

Let's do this.

 

[Tesseract]

the universe creeps me right the fuck out, ugh.

 

[Hobbestetrician]

It's trapped under ice. Like the Metallica song.

FREEZING!
Can't move at all
SCREAMING!
Can't hear my call
I'm dying to live
CRY OUT!
I'M TRAPPED UNDER ICE

 

[NullPointer]

*fist bump*

 

[Barbacoatl]

Great for those spicy encheladus.

 

[Trouble]

And at the dawn of the next cold war.

Let's do this.

If this new cold war spawns another space race, I'm all for it.

 

[NullPointer]

If this new cold war spawns another space race, I'm all for it.

You can use me as a scapegoat if it helps.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

Whoa lets get on it!

 

[Nelo Ice]

Fund NASA dammit!. This is amazing news.

 

[-Deimos]

It's actually really interesting, it's the biggest moon relative to the size of the planet it orbits. Phobos and Deimos, now those are some bitch moons.

 

[thezerofire]

I love the universe! Another reason to watch Cosmos people!

I watched the most recent one and it made me so sad I'll never see almost any of it

 

[Lovely Salsa]

What life are we talking about? Something we can see and touch or mirco?

How much would it cost to find out? US has plently of billionaires, maybe they'd help?

 

[Log4Girlz]

You need to gain weight.

 

[Trouble]

You need to gain weight.

Yeah, get swole breh.

 

[Baskcm]

lets get the party started