P044-0013
VERNE Sample Intake and Processing (SIP): Investigation and Development of Liquid Water Sampling for Subsurface Probe on Europa

Friday, 11 December 2020
Poster
Elizabeth Marie Spiers1, Frances E Bryson2, Andrew David Mullen2, Chase Chivers3, Ashley M Hanna1, Kynan Hughson1, Justin Lawrence2, Taylor Plattner2, Ellery D Ingall4, Christopher E. Carr1, Matthew Ryan Meister2, E. Glenn Lightsey5 and Britney Schmidt2, (1)Georgia Institute of Technology Main Campus, Atlanta, GA, United States, (2)Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Atlanta, GA, United States, (3)Georgia Institute of Technology Main Campus, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Atlanta, GA, United States, (4)Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA, United States, (5)Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States
Abstract:
Jupiter’s moon Europa contains a global subsurface ocean beneath its ice shell and is an exciting target for the search for life. The Vertical Entry Robot for Navigating Europa (VERNE) project is exploring the technology necessary to deliver a vehicle through Europa’s ice shell to access subsurface liquid water either below or within the shell. VERNE Sample Handling System includes the ability to collect and process liquid water samples and deliver these samples to a representative science suite. We used a representative science suite, inclusive of space-flown instruments, oceanographic instruments, and instruments focused on life detection, to prove the concept for the VERNE system. By sampling throughout the ice shell into the subsurface ocean, VERNE would probe the Europan interior for evidence of past and/or extant life.

Through the representative science suite, we have developed requirements for sample handling and processing such that the system could be robust to the choice of future instruments. Instrument requirements including sample volume, pressure, flow rate, temperature, etc, may vary. Thus, we developed a design prototype and concept of operations for the sample handling system that incorporates variable sample processing to accommodate a wide range of instrumentation. Technologies for sample processing that require development before flight were also identified, including a subset of components of the system that will be developed and tested during the study. One of the primary challenges for subsurface Europa or ocean worlds missions is the potential wide range of sample salinities and composition, due to the unknown salt content of Europa’s interior. Salts are capable of not only clogging fluidic systems, but also altering measurement capabilities of instruments such as mass spectrometers. Therefore, designing a system with the capability to intake and handle highly saline fluids has been a primary focus.

Here we present the design of this sample handling system that will enable the analysis of water samples through Europa’s ice shell and in its ocean, as well as preliminary results from tests of select components of the system and its sample processing capabilities.

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