3234: Europa Missions

2026-04-20T13:59:28Z

82.132.239.206: /* Explanation */ Subsurface relies upon a distinguishing surface. You wouldn't normally call the Arctic Ocean 'subsurface' just because there's *some* ice on top of it, but (almost) entire ice-covering seems to allow that description.

{{comic
| number = 3234
| date = April 17, 2026
| title = Europa Missions
| image = europa_missions_2x.png
| imagesize = 515x274px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Before resurfacing, they promise to inspect the ice for any evidence of hockey-playing life.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created recently by the Zamboni Voyager. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
In recent years, {{w|NASA}} and the {{w|European Space Agency}} (ESA) have sent spacecraft to observe Jupiter’s moon Europa. According to NASA, the moon could be a candidate for life, so it would make sense that the scientists would send spacecraft to observe it. The first two craft, the {{w|Europa Clipper}} and {{w|Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer}}, respectively, will investigate the ocean, topography and chemistry of the moon, to help in searching for signs of life. Europa's ocean is frozen on the top, the whole surface being solid ice with (except perhaps transiently at the bottom of any deep crevasses that form) no exposed liquid, which is why it described as a "subsurface ocean".

A {{w|Zamboni}} is a vehicle that, rather than being a scientific mission or a transport for other scientific missions, is meant to quickly resurface ice rinks that have been worn down. The comic talks about a hypothetical spacecraft carrying a Zamboni because the {{w|National Hockey League}} (NHL) wants to expand their games to Europa due to the surface of the moon’s oceans being completely covered in ice. Hockey in reduced gravity would be {{What If|124|an interesting idea.}}

The title text talks about finding hockey playing life on Europa, which would be unlikely, as the life on Earth and Europa are completely separate cultures,{{citation needed}} so even if the life on Europa does have its own forms of entertainment similar to sports, it would be unlikely that the sports played have even {{w|Convergent evolution|remotely similar}} rules or equipment. It appears that, if life were on Europa that did not play hockey, the NHL would not consider them important enough to reassess the impacts of their space mission.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball's upper body is shown; he is in front of an image of a spacecraft.]
:Cueball: There are now three spacecraft headed to Europa:
:Cueball: NASA's ''Europa Clipper'', which investigate Europa's subsurface ocean,

:[In a longer shot, Cueball, Ponytail, and Hairy are all shown standing in front of another spacecraft image, with Cueball gesturing at it.]
:Cueball: ESA's ''Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer'', which will study the topography and chemistry of Europa and the other moons,

:[Another closeup on Cueball, who is in front of an image of a Zamboni with a firing rocket nozzle on its bottom.]
:Cueball: And the NHL's ''Zamboni Voyager'', which plans to resurface Europa.
:Voice out of frame: Oh no.
:Cueball: We tried to stop them, but the league is set on an expansion.

==Trivia==
*The [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/archive/f/fd/20260418170145%21europa_missions_2x.png original version of the comic] incorrectly referred to the "Jupiter Icy Moons ''Orbiter''" rather than "Jupiter Icy Moons ''Explorer''."

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Comics edited after their publication]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]
[[Category:Space probes]]
[[Category:Sport]]

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3234: Europa Missions