If there was a Winter Olympics in the solar system...

The opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics has entered the countdown stage, and a feast of ice and snow is about to be staged. Athletes will gallop freely in the snow-covered field and shuttle freely on the mirror-like ice surface, showing the infinite charm of ice and snow sports.

As one of the eight planets in the solar system, our planet Earth is lucky enough to host wonderful ice and snow sports. Unfortunately, the surface environment of Venus is too harsh, and Jupiter and Saturn are gas giants, so their "real surface" is hard to grasp and "truth" is not suitable for ice and snow sports. Fortunately, Jupiter and Saturn have enough satellites and may serve as venues. Now let's broaden our horizons and see what other planets in the solar system are suitable for hosting winter Olympic ice and snow events!

Mercury Figure Skating

It was dark all around, with a faint light reflecting off the ice. A melodious tune played, and figure skaters danced like beautiful butterflies, spinning and jumping on the ice. That was the scene on Mercury.

Mercury figure skaters dancing

As the smallest planet in the solar system and the one closest to the sun, Mercury is only slightly larger than the moon. Mercury has no atmosphere, only a thin exosphere, which is composed of oxygen, sodium, hydrogen, helium and potassium produced by the solar wind and meteoroids hitting the surface of Mercury. Because there is no atmosphere to protect it, the surface of Mercury is similar to the moon, with many impact craters. For the same reason, the temperature difference between day and night on Mercury is very large, reaching 430 degrees Celsius during the day and dropping to minus 180 degrees Celsius at night. This leads to the presence of water ice in the dark impact craters at the poles of Mercury. Because there is no sunlight, the ice surface is smooth, which is a natural playground for figure skating.

Mars Ski Jumping

Adjust your breathing deeply, muster up all your courage, slide down the steep slope quickly, lean over, sprint... Ski jumpers fly freely among the uneven terrain of the Arctic ice cap on Mars.

Athletes fly freely during ski jumping competition on Mars

Ice caps have long existed on Mars, and Mars has four distinct seasons. The lowest temperature in winter can reach -153 degrees Celsius. The extreme cold condenses about 30% of the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere into dry ice, which settles on the ice cap, increasing its thickness by about 1 meter. Strong winds blow these sediments from the high center to the low edge, forming the spiral structure of the Martian Arctic ice cap. When the warmer summer arrives, these dry ices will directly sublimate into gas and escape into the Martian atmosphere, leaving behind a layer of water ice. Because the atmosphere is very thin, the temperature difference at different altitudes on Mars is very large, and ski jumpers may feel a little cold head and hot feet when soaring in the sky.

Uranus Snowmobile

As the third largest planet in the solar system and the second farthest from the sun, Uranus is very cold and windy, and is a veritable "ice giant". Do you think it is suitable for ice skating? Unfortunately, we cannot carry out any ice sports on the surface of Uranus because it does not have a "real surface". 80% of its mass is composed of high-density hot fluids composed of water, liquid methane, liquid ammonia, etc., wrapped around a smaller rocky core.

Athletes of the Uranus Bobsleigh Race are racing at lightning speed

However, don't lose heart, we have set our sights on the rotating fluid in the atmosphere of Uranus. The composition here is mainly hydrogen and helium, with a small amount of methane and water. The temperature is as low as minus 224.2 degrees Celsius, and the wind speed can reach 900 kilometers per hour. Under such extreme pressure and temperature, we can use sturdy snow cars to drive at high speed in the whirlpool, and experience speed and passion!

Neptune Snowboard

Like Uranus, Neptune has no solid surface, but is denser. Its atmosphere is composed mainly of hydrogen, helium, and methane, and is very large, gradually merging into water and melting ice from the outside to the inside, covering a solid core with a mass roughly the same as that of Earth.

Neptune snowboard competition athlete spins and flips

Neptune is the planet with the strongest wind in the solar system. The wind here is on average nine times stronger than on Earth, blowing frozen methane clouds at a speed of more than 2,000 kilometers per hour... Don't be intimidated. What event is more suitable to be held here than snowboarding, which combines freedom, fashion and thrills? Look, the athletes are spinning and tumbling with the help of the wind, chasing and surpassing, showing their youthful vitality.

Europa Speed ​​Skating

Europa is called Europa, and its surface is covered with water ice. Scientists believe that this ice shell is 15 to 25 kilometers thick, and there is an ocean 60 to 150 kilometers deep underneath. Although Europa's diameter is only 1/4 of the Earth's, its ocean may contain twice as much water as the Earth's ocean.

Europa speed skating competition athletes enjoy the chase

On the surface of this "big ice ball", long linear cracks crisscross. These cracks are usually only 1 to 2 kilometers wide, but can extend thousands of kilometers on the surface of Europa. Some of them have formed ice ridges hundreds of meters high, while others seem to have split into multiple parallel cracks... In short, these cracks can become natural venues for speed skating, and athletes can chase and compete on the criss-crossing "tracks".

Enceladus Freestyle Skiing

Similar to Europa, the surface of Saturn's second moon Enceladus is also covered by an icy crust with an average thickness of 20 to 25 kilometers, and there is also an ocean beneath the icy crust. When Enceladus moves closer to Saturn, tidal heating will occur inside it, and a gas plume composed of a mixture of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane will be ejected from the surface of the icy crust.

Freestyle skiers take a leap in the air during a ski race on Enceladus

Freestyle skiers need to use all their skills to avoid these plumes, leaping into the air, dodging and moving in all directions. The gorgeous skills and skilled techniques are perfectly integrated into one, which is a wonderful visual feast!

Titan Ice Hockey

Titan, Saturn's largest satellite, is also an icy world, with an average temperature as low as -179 degrees Celsius. Its surface is not covered with rocks, but a mixture of water and ice. It is the only satellite in the solar system with a dense atmosphere, which is mainly nitrogen, plus a small amount of methane. Liquids pour down from its atmosphere, accumulate on its surface, form lakes and oceans, and then evaporate back into the sky.

Titan ice hockey players dodge and maneuver

The environment here is very similar to that on Earth, so let's try some intense competitive sports, such as ice hockey. On the field, you will see athletes engaging in breathtaking physical confrontations, skating quickly, turning with pressure steps, stopping and starting suddenly, dodging and moving, reasonably colliding, blocking and fighting, swinging and shooting, until the ice hockey with a standard diameter of 7.62 cm is sent into the opponent's goal.

By Liang Lei

Editor/Gao Chen

Review/Yang Jian and Yang Lei

Producer/Suo Adi

Source: China Aerospace News