From: foo@bar.baz.invalid.retro.com   
      
   So, from deep within the peanut gallery come a couple   
   questions/comments and such that will perhaps sound absurd but if   
   nothing else I suspect the responses it might trigger will be good   
   learning.   
      
   Just how well might an ion drive work to bore a hole in the ice on say   
   Europa?  Would it even be able to get to the bottom of the ice?  I   
   suppose that if it could one would have to worry about a blow-out... I   
   was just wondering if after landing something useful could be done   
   with the powerplant that got one to Europa in the first place.   
      
   Getting more general, is one better-off trying to dig mechanically   
   through the ice?   
      
   If one were to try to melt through it - say not with the ion drive,   
   but with a probe that is simply sufficiently warmer than the ice and   
   just let gravity pull you in (wouldn't think you need to go very fast)   
   I guess you wouldn't need to worry about the blowout because the ice   
   would reform behind/above the probe as it went.   
      
   But comms back to the lander and thence Earth might be dodgy through   
   the ice (?) so I guess the probe needs to trail some wires beind it?   
   Say four of them for (supplemental?) power and comms?   
      
   Pointers to URLs would be great,   
      
   rick jones   
   --   
   a wide gulf separates "what if" from "if only"   
   these opinions are mine, all mine; HP might not want them anyway... :)   
   feel free to post, OR email to raj in cup.hp.com  but NOT BOTH...   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)