A Drop-Ballast Ascent Vehicle for Sample Return from Europa's Ocean: Buoyancy, Rise Speed and Recovery Budget

This study sizes the system named in its title from stated physical relations and a stated environmental basis, and reports the result as SIMULATED, NOT MEASURED. The vehicle is a civilian science craft whose sole task is to carry ocean samples from depth to the ice ceiling of Europa for recovery and analysis, in support of peaceful research. Every performance figure is computed by the deposited script from its inputs rather than asserted, and the headline outcomes include drop ballast mass of 49 kilograms, terminal rise speed check of 0.59 metres per second and ascent time of 15.2 hours. Mass, power and energy budgets are assembled from components so they can be audited line by line, off-design behaviour is discussed openly, and the limits of the sizing are stated in full.