On: Suddenly, It Seems, Water Is Everywhere in Solar System

[acomjean]

Don't we already have lots of autonomous subs on earth? As long as they can survive the trip, just put some new sensors in and go.

[Altaer → acomjean]

They would need to be a certain weight for the rocket they would ride on, be able to withstand radiation, generate power or install a different power source, be able to withstand various extreme temperatures, ensure it can "swim" in different oceans (Titan's ocean is not H2O). Not to mention they need to develop a way to deliver the sub to the water safely. I think there are lots of changes here.

[ohitsdom → acomjean]

How would you get data back? I'd imagine you'd have to have a surface relay, to a moon-orbiting satellite, then back to earth.

[acomjean → ohitsdom]

They come to the surface, then get a gps fix (err) and then is picked up by the boat then the data uploaded..... Ok its going to need some minor modifications.

[noselasd → acomjean]

You also need to get from the surface to the water, and from the water back to the surface. Inbetween is a rather huge layer of ice. On Europa it's though to be 10-20 kilometers thick, though there's indications it could be as "thin" as 3km some places