LAND ON EUROPA? CLARKE'S BEEN THERE, DONE THAT.Byline: Jane E. Allen Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Futurist author Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (born 16 December 1917) is a British science-fiction author and inventor, most famous for his novel , and for collaborating with director Stanley Kubrick on the . already has beaten NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. to the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Icy moons are believed to be a common class of planetoids that have a surface mostly of ice, possibly with an ocean under the ice, and possibly including a rocky core of silicate or metallic rocks. The prototype of this class of object is Europa. Europa, where he had light-seeking creatures in a sequel to ``2001: A Space Odyssey'' destroying an approaching spacecraft. But now he warns that when spaceships finally get there to look for life, ``I'm a bit scared they may show some signs saying, `Yankee, go home.' '' The British author, who now lives in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (srē läng`kə) [Sinhalese,=resplendent land], formerly Ceylon, ancient Taprobane, officially Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, island republic (2005 est. pop. , made his remarks Wednesday night in a telephone call to more than 100 planetary scientists, oceanographers and biologists attending a conference on the possibility of life beneath Europa's frozen shell. Asked what techniques he thought might be appropriate for exploration, he suggested a lander ``and then maybe a bathyscaphe bathyscaphe Navigable diving vessel developed by Auguste Piccard (assisted by his son Jacques), designed to reach great depths in the ocean. The first bathyscaphe, the FNRS 2, was built in 1946–48 in Belgium. A later version, the Trieste, was acquired by the U.S. ,'' drawing applause from the outnumbered oceanographers in the group. Bathyscaphes are submersible submersible, small, mobile undersea research vessel capable of functioning in the ocean depths. Development of a great variety of submersibles during the later 1950s and 1960s came about as a result of improved technology and in response to a demonstrated need for vehicles. Clarke, who said he hopes to return to the United States ``before my 80th birthday,'' sparked the imaginations of many of the scientists at the conference with his science fiction. ``He's also done more thinking about Europa than anyone here,'' said Steve Squyres, a Cornell University scientist and conference organizer. Many in the audience recalled that in ``2010'' there was the ominous warning, ``All these worlds are yours except Europa,'' and that in ``2061,'' Clarke had a Chinese spaceship crash into Europa's surface. ``I've been interested in Jupiter for quite some time,'' Clarke said. ``When I wrote `2001,' back in the Middle Ages, I never thought there would be a sequel.'' But he was quick to pitch his latest, ``3001: The Final Odyssey.'' ``I hope it will be final,'' he said. ``I don't think any trilogy should have more than four volumes.'' Clarke said he's always been a believer in other forms of life in the cosmos. ``I find it very hard to believe we are alone in the universe,'' he said. ``It would be very depressing if that were the case.'' Jupiter and its moons are currently being explored by the Galileo spacecraft. Galileo has already sent back images of Europa, but will make its closest pass Dec. 19, when it will fly within 435 miles of the surface. |
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