NASA’s ‘Underwater Drones’ Could Someday Explore Ocean Of Jupiter’s Moon Europa

Beyond Earth, there are actually plenty of places to look for water and ice. Right now, Saturn’s moon Titan, which has methane rivers and lakes, is the only place in the solar system known to have surface liquid other than Earth. However, researchers and scientists believe that there are places that harbor subsurface oceans of water.
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From link below:

“Future missions to Europa will likely seek to confirm the presence of its ocean. For example, measurements of the amount of flexing due to the tides are one important indicator — if the ocean exists, the tides should deform the surface by about 30 m (100 feet); if the moon is frozen through, the tides should stretch the surface by only one meter (3 feet). Also of great interest will be the composition of the reddish material on the surface. Scientists would like to know if this material holds clues to the composition of the ocean and whether material is cycling between the surface and the interior.”

http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/europa/indepth

See also:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/europa-mission/

NASA has selected nine science instruments for a future mission to Europa. The selected payload includes cameras and spectrometers to produce high-resolution images of Europa’s surface and determine its composition. An ice penetrating radar would determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and search for subsurface lakes similar to those beneath Antarctica’s ice sheet. The mission would also carry a magnetometer to measure the strength and direction of the moon’s magnetic field, which would allow scientists to determine the depth and salinity of its ocean.

A thermal instrument would survey Europa’s frozen surface in search of recent eruptions of warmer water at or near the surface, while additional instruments would search for evidence of water and tiny particles in the moon’s thin atmosphere.

“Future missions to Europa will likely seek to confirm the presence of its ocean.”

Well, that’s a good idea.

It’d be embarrassing to send aquatic drones all the way to Europa, only to find that it’s solid all the way through.