Ice Moon
In 1995, NASA's Galileo
probe entered orbit around Jupiter and began
collecting data on the gas giant and its moons
Ganymede, Io, Callisto and Europa. After reviewing
information from several close fly-bys of Europa,
scientists confirmed previous theories that a vast,
subsurface ocean existed below the moon's icy
crust. How deep the ocean, and how thick the shell
of ice, has not been determined, but the discovery
of an ocean on another planetary body is no small
affair. The logical hypothesis that follows is,
"Where there is water, there is life."
Could life exist under the ice of Europa? It's
certainly a thrilling possibility. Jupiter throws
off powerful bands of radiation, but Europa's
icepack provides sufficient shielding. Here on
Earth, some life forms thrive under harsh
conditions. Microscopic life has been found deep
under the Antarctic icepack, living in the very ice
itself. Vast ecosystems of tubeworms, crabs and
other creatures bask in the heat of hydrothermal
vents on the ocean floor, far from the sun's
life-giving rays and under so much pressure that
the 600-degree water does not boil. Hypothesizing
that life could exist on Europa, then, requires no
great stretch of the imagination.
But what form would such extraterrestrial life
take? Do familiar fish swim through Europa's ocean,
analogous to Earth's marine animals? Or are
Europa's natives more exotic, more alien? Would
such life forms be as harmless as a sea cucumber,
or as deadly as a Great White? Would they even be
so highly evolved, or does Europa only support
unicellular life?
Many questions, few answers—so far. NASA
plans to launch the Europa
Orbiter probe in 2008 to focus more closely on
the ice-covered moon. However, I have already
explored such what-ifs. In my screenplay Ice
Moon, a ragtag team of freelance astronauts
travels to Europa to explore the moon's subsurface
ocean. There, they quickly fall prey to an apex
predator whose ferocity makes a shark look like a
guppy. The creature picks them off one by one as
they struggle to survive long enough to escape.
Though I managed to get the script on the desks
of a few film executives last year, I otherwise
haven't had much luck circulating it around
Hollywood. However, I recently posted it on
TriggerStreet.com,
a screenwriting and filmmaking community where
short films and scripts receive peer review. In
just a few months, Ice Moon has risen in the
ratings to #15 out of about 2,000 screenplays, and
is flirting with the Top Ten. Though I'd largely
abandoned the script, and have since moved on to my
next project, there may still be "life" on Europa
yet.
[Editor's Note: Sign on to
TriggerStreet.com
and search for "ICE MOON" if you want to download
and read the script—and if you do so, please
take a moment to post a review.]
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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Previously...
4/30:
Tempus
Fugit
4/29:
Camaraderie
4/28:
A
Mis Hondureños
4/27:
Sunday
Night Ramblings
4/26:
Hair
Band Nostalgia
4/25:
Consequences
4/24:
Lemon
Curry?
4/23:
My
Father Midas
4/22:
Earth
Day
4/21:
Joshua
Tree, Part III
4/20:
Joshua
Tree, Part II
4/19:
Joshua
Tree, Part I
4/18:
Royal
Flush
4/17:
A
Long Strange Trip
4/16:
A
New Line to Back
4/15:
Still
Writing
4/14:
Conspiracy
Theory
4/13:
Los
Coronados
4/12:
Y2K
in Y2K3
4/11:
Slow
Glass
4/10:
Freedom
of Speech
4/9:
Why
We're Fighting
4/8:
Eucalyptus
Memories
4/7:
Sleep
4/6:
Writing,
Just Not Here
4/5:
Sci-Files
Trivia
4/4:
Sobering
Up
4/3:
Great
White Hope
4/2:
Entropy
4/1:
Peace
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