This timelapse video shows an eight-month experiment taking place from December 2017 to August 2018 inside a pump-driven vacuum chamber designed to simulate conditions on Europa. Towards the end of the timelapse the ice appears to expand as water molecules accrete in colder sections of the ice, growing new ice features. The vacuum chamber used in this experiment, commonly called “The Ark”, allows researchers to study the shape of ice, and how it changes under different temperatures, pressures, and simulated sunlight conditions. The LED light bar seen moving in this timelapse video simulates the day-night cycle of solar radiation experienced on Europa’s surface. This experiment took place at the Ocean Worlds Lab at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. The Ocean Worlds Lab uses laboratory and computer models to simulate the conditions at and below the surfaces of ocean worlds such as Europa. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
