Anyone who'd like to ski in space should head for Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, according to boffins who've discovered that the superfine ice crystals coating the moon's surface would be perfect powder for skiing. Artist rendering of the surface of Encedalus "Bulky space suits and extremely low gravity aside (the surface …

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Monday 3rd October 2011 12:51 GMT Eponymous Cowherd

s'no good for skiing

Skis work because the snow under them melts, causing a thin film of water which they ride upon.

at -200c, the "snow" on Enceladus would be more like trying to ski on real talcum powder.

IIRC, it was the low temperatures causing the snow to behave more like sand that caused a lot of the difficulties Scott encountered in his attempt to reach the South Pole.

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1. Monday 3rd October 2011 15:05 GMT Matthew Smith
  
  Heated skis?
  
  Whatever suit you are wearing will be very good at generating heat to keep you alive, so channel some of that through the skis as well.
  
  With the low grav, you could bound up to the top of the highest hill without the need to a ski lift. You might only accelerate slowly downwards, but should be at a fair clip at the bottom.
  
  (Or, you could run up a ski ramp, orbit the moon once, and land again nearby. Theres good possibilities in this).
  
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  1. Monday 3rd October 2011 15:53 GMT Richard 120
    
    Nice
    
    And of course you'd want to make the skiis from a heavy dense material too, to help with the gravity.
    
    Any falls you won't impact as hard so it should be good for fewer bumps and bruises too.
    
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2. Tuesday 4th October 2011 10:42 GMT Jim 59
  
  Powder
  
  "the "snow" on Enceladus would be more like trying to ski on real talcum powder."
  
  ...which would work nicely ? Fine powders (finer than sand) can behave like liquid when disturbed, a property used in earth bound industrial processes.
  
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3. Tuesday 4th October 2011 11:00 GMT MacroRodent
  
  Been skiing in cold?
  
  In my personal experience, skiing is quite possible in -25C n, and I seriously doubt any significant amount of water melts at that temperature (after the ski has cooled: you quickly learn not to put a ski taken from indoors directly onto the snow: it instantly clogs with snow that freezes to it).
  
  Skis do have more friction in very cold weather, which is why you use harder ski vax under those conditions. Very hard ski vax recommended for Enceladus.
  
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Monday 3rd October 2011 13:22 GMT Stuart 2

Rubbish

Read an article about this before. The ice would not melt as it is too cold, so there is lots of friction, hence it is rubbish for skiing on, would be like skiing down a sand dune made of talcum powder.

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1. Monday 3rd October 2011 15:59 GMT Destroy All Monsters
  
  But is it water ice?
  
  If nitrogen it might work.
  
  Just don't fall, the explosion caused by the waste heat of your suit would take your head off etc...
  
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Monday 3rd October 2011 13:25 GMT Anonymous Coward

1% the gravity of Earth

Imagine the ski-jumps you could do!

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1. Monday 3rd October 2011 15:59 GMT James Micallef
  
  yeah, but imagine also the length of run-up you'd need to gain any sort of speed at 1% gravity.
  
  I'll stick to the Swiss Alps, thanks
  
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Monday 3rd October 2011 14:57 GMT BorkedAgain

I'm pretty sure...

...the low gravity would make it a bit rubbish for skiing as well. Like trying to ski in Holland; not enough downhillishness.

'Scuse technical terms; you know what I'm saying.

(Surprised nobody's mentioned the lack of atmosphere at the après-ski, come to that...)

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1. Monday 3rd October 2011 19:53 GMT boothamshaw
  
  virtual downhillishness
  
  simple - use the suit's in-built jet pack to propel yourself happily along at a tidy jog. Slight uphill gradients should be avoided unless you wish to spend the rest of the vacation orbiting Enceladus.
  
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Monday 3rd October 2011 14:59 GMT KrisM

perfect for snowboarding surely

Everyone know the powder always suits snowboarders better - the skiers like the harder compacted stuff!

Plus snowbaording on a distant planet is surely only cool enough to be done by boarders?

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1. Tuesday 4th October 2011 06:33 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  Cool?
  
  The problem is that when the boarders put their space helmets on backwards they'll not be able to see where they're going...
  
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Monday 3rd October 2011 19:50 GMT Nick Kew

ObPedant

What's this assumption that the whole bloomin' celestial body has homogenous conditions?

Bit like observing the cradle of civilization, and concluding the Earth is a balmy planet with (compared to here) hot dry summer, shorter winter, etc ...

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