Laythe

[Markarian421]

Thermal Radiation from Gas Giant Planets

If Jool is more massive than Jupiter and/or physics are slightly different in KSP, Jool might be able to provide enough heat via gravitational contraction (in addition to the tidal forces).

[Holo]

Laythe probably has microorganisms that photosynthesise.

[Xaryn Mar]

From what I understand it could be possible. Laythe is the closest moon to Jool. Same as Europa is the closest of the Galilean moons to Jupiter. Scientist think that their might be liquid water under its surface because of tidal forces. Just like the Moon makes tides on Earth, Jupiter pulls on Europa stretching and pulling on the rock, this then causes friction which heats up the core of the planet and then some. This could be the same thing happening to Laythe with Jool, tidal friction.

P.S I am not 100% sure on the information above and do not claim it to be right. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

Mostly correct.

As you might have noticed from a lot of the other posts Europa isn't the innermost Galileian moon. That would be Io (the very vulcanic one, red, yellow and orange in colour from all the sulfur). Other than that your post is correct and it is the most likely reason for liquids on Laythe.

[ComradeGoat]

The reason IO has volcanism is, as I understand it, because Jupiter's immense tidal forces knead the core of IO, heating up its inside through friction. The same effect happens on Europa to a lesser extent, which is why it appears to have liquid water under the ice that covers its surface.

It's not hard to imagine an ice moon lose enough to a gas giant for the tidal forces to generate enough heat to melt the ice, especially if it has a thick atmosphere like Laythe to keep the heat in.

[Themohawkninja]

Okay guys. I have a thread about this, and had the luck of Nova explaining that Laythe is.

Laythe, according to Nova, is his interpretation of what the planet Europa would look like if it were in the same place as Io. The physics behind this can be explained as such:

Io is the closest moon to Jupiter, and therefore has the greatest tidal forces acting on it. Europa's already unstable ice crust would be further heated and broken up. When this is combined with an atmosphere that is dense enough (and has enough oxygen) to support jet engines, the greenhouse effect will further increase the temperature of the planet to the point where water could be in a permanent state of liquid.

[7499275]

So this if off the topic of Laythe and on the topic of Jupiters actual moons but... Most of Earth's water is salt water there fore undrinkable. Yes we can desalinize it but if it came down to the crap hitting the fan, we could in theory send a ship to one of Jupiters moons, drill under the surface extract water and return it to Earth to be used. Assuming that we could be a craft capable of the trip with life support systems and a way to get the heavy load of water back to the ground of Earth safely correct?

[technicalfool]

we could in theory send a ship to one of Jupiters moons, drill under the surface extract water and return it to Earth to be used. Assuming that we could be a craft capable of the trip with life support systems and a way to get the heavy load of water back to the ground of Earth safely correct?

Or build enough desalination plants to service an entire country for approximately (very approximately) half a percent of the cost it would take to launch a single water retrieval mission to the Jovian system. In approximately half the time.

Hm, that's not supposed to sound as snarky as it looks. But yes, basically, going to Jupiter for water would be just a tad uneconomical.

[7499275]

Indeed it would be, that's why I said, if the crap hit the fan, we could basically use it as a last resort.

[Themohawkninja]

Indeed it would be, that's why I said, if the crap hit the fan, we could basically use it as a last resort.

Chances are that if we got to such a point, space agencies wouldn't have the funding to do the mission. Also, the water on Europa is ~60 miles deep. It would take months to get to the moon, weeks to months to get down to the water, days to extract enough, months to return, weeks to months to desalinize.

It's not a good idea at all from what I can tell.