Ganymede: a place for skiing, scuba diving and possibly seafood.

For those of you that couldn’t decide on vacationing on the Earth’s Moon or someplace with a pool (I’m talking to you Burning Windmill) Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, may be the perfect place for the holidays.

Ganymede offers a lot of the same great features of the Moon, low gravity, gorgeous views, and a chance to get away from it all. Ganymede also has some great features that are hard to find anywhere else.

Ganymede is covered in ice that has been twisted into mountains and canyons by the tidal forces of Jupiter and the other moons in the Jupiter system. Over the millennia huge cracks sometimes expose the ocean underneath which starts to boil when exposed to the near vacuum of the Ganymede surface. Some of this water vapor settles on the surface of the Ice Mountains leaving a unique virgin powder that will allow a one of a kind skiing experience.

If skiing isn’t your thing, Ganymede offers a chance for a great scuba diving adventure. Just 100 miles beneath the surface is a giant unexplored sea. The same tidal forces that have made the Ice Mountains keep the seas above freezing.

These seas are heated by volcanic vents. On Earth, life thrives around similar vents so there is a good chance you will see some one of a kind lifeforms.

There is great speculation as to what these lifeforms might look like but some people (ok me.) think giant crabs (pictured below) could have evolved.


Local Atmosphere:

Ganymede has a very thin oxygen atmosphere, much too thin to breath but with some special pumps could be used to provide a comfortable atmosphere in your quarters.

Culture and Night-life:

Ganymede does offer all the conditions that life needs to evolve, most scientists believe that the local lifeforms would be primative, but if a fellow guest has an alien lifeform attach itself to their face it might be a good idea to wait a while before letting them back into the common areas.

Cosmic Rays:

Ganymede has a magnetosphere of its own and it is also within Jupiter’s magnetosphere so Cosmic Rays aren’t a concern.

Things to discuss with your Travel Agent:

Make sure they book you on a fast ship.

At the speed the Apollo Spacecraft traveled to the Moon it take roughly 16 years to travel to Ganymede. If you have plenty of money and nothing to do for the next 32 years this is fine.

Once you get to Ganymede air and water can be made from the local ice, from that food can be grown. Make sure your accommodations include these facilities.

Like always make sure to book a round trip ticket, Getting back from Ganymede would be tough.