MISSILE MAY CHIP MOON ICE.

Byline: Associated Press 

Scientists meeting this week will propose striking Jupiter's moon Europa with a missile to knock chunks of its icy crust into space for retrieval by a spacecraft and return to Earth.

Scientists from Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena are looking for a relatively quick and inexpensive way to sample Europa's fractured surface, which may be hiding an ocean - and, perhaps - life.

The idea, so far unfunded, will be discussed Tuesday at the San Juan Institute during a meeting of geologists, planetary scientists and exobiologists considering the potential for life on Europa.

``It's an inspired plan that could bring important clues about what might be the only other body in our solar system with an ocean,'' said Doug Nash, the institute's director.

The so-called Ice Clipper would launch a 20-pound, unarmed missile into Europa, hurling pieces of the surface 30 miles into space.

Then it would use a gel to collect shards of ice as it streaked through the resulting debris cloud.

The probe would return the sample to Earth, parachuting into the atmosphere.