We would have to admit that even here at Brookes the home of work wear we would struggle to supply industrial workwear that would allow this particular resource to be safely studied and utilised. The latest discovery from space is that water may be spouting from beneath the surface of Europa, the icy moon of Jupiter.

Images have been released, shot by the Hubble Space Telescope that shows plumes of hydrogen and oxygen rising from the Southern polar areas of the moon. If they are confirmed as being water it adds to the hopes that the underground ocean can be accessed from its surface adding to the hopes that if other life is to be found in the Solar System, then this is where it will be found.

These eruptions were found in images taken in November and December of 2012 and subsequently in a series of images from 1999. They are described as being 125 mile high plumes and are estimated to be travelling at almost 700 metres a second! Amazingly almost all of the material is then drawn back in, and the plumes are at their largest when the moon is farthest from the planet itself and almost vanishes when it is closest, which means that it could be described as a tidal effect.

It is something that scientists all over the globe want to investigate, but they may have to wait a while as the next proposed missions by Nasa and the European Space Agency aren’t planned until the 2020s, namely the Europa Clipper and The “Juice” probes. These plan to orbit Europa and could offer chances to actually sample the plumes and analyse what they are made up of in detail.

At least that would give us time to improve our range of industrial workwear. Who knows one day you could be buying your spacesuit and equipment from us for that job in orbit. Watch this Space!!