Yep. Me too. I love Europa. I honestly believe that Europa may be tidally heated. I mean, imagine going ice fishing there. That would be so awesome.
Oh, and there's actually scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Lab who are beginning to think about a mission where a space probe lands, finds (or cuts or melts) a hole in the ice, and extends a submersible camera to have a peek. Since oceans were the likely place of origin for life on Earth, then the existence of life in Europa's oceans could be a possibility. Personally, in my opinion, I just think that the most remarkable feature of water isn't the "univeral solvent" that we all learned in chemistry class (I mean for anyone who took chemistry) nor is it the unusually wide temperature range over which it remains liquid. Just remember, if you've had chemistry, that water's most remarkable feature is that while most things (water included) shrink and become denser as they cool. It's just that water expands when it cools below 4 degrees Celcius, becoming less and less dense. When it freezes at zero degrees, it becomes even less dense than at any temperature when it was liquid, which is bad news for drainage pipes, but great news for fish.
Like in the winter, as the outside air drops, below freezing, 4 degree water sinks to the bottom and stays there while a floating layer of ice builds really slowly, on the surface insulating the warmer water below. I honestly believe this is the case with Europa. I could be wrong, but God I hope not.
