Is there an ocean hiding beneath the ice of Jupiter's moon?
In short: NASA is advancing a mission to Europa, a moon that may hold the keys to life beyond Earth. By studying its thick icy crust and suspected subsurface ocean, scientists hope to determine if this distant world possesses the habitable conditions necessary to support microbial life.
The Europa Clipper mission represents a significant leap from concept to development. Originally moving into the formulation stage in June 2015, the mission has progressed through various reviews. The spacecraft is designed to conduct a detailed science investigation of Europa, acting as Earth's first dedicated mission to study the moon's habitability. The project, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, aims to probe the moon's interior and composition through imaging and remote sensing.
The mission's scientific strategy relies on a series of close encounters. The spacecraft will orbit Jupiter and perform numerous flybys of Europa—with estimates ranging from 45 to 49 passes—to observe the icy surface. To achieve this, the orbiter carries nine science instruments, all of which are designed to operate simultaneously during every pass. The mission also includes a gravity experiment that utilizes the spacecraft's telecommunications system to gather data.
While the mission's history includes early observations from the Voyager spacecraft in the 1980s and evidence of a global ocean from the Galileo probe in the 1990s, the Clipper mission brings new precision. Despite challenges, such as the risk of delays due to potentially faulty transistors on the US$5-billion spacecraft, the mission is set to travel 1.8 billion kilometers. If the launch is successful, the orbiter is expected to reach the Jupiter system in April 2030, continuing the search for life in our solar system.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Mission to Europa Gets Green Light on This Week @NASA – June 19, 2015
- Also: Europa Clipper - NASA Science
- Also: NASA's Europa Mission Approved for Next Development Stage | Space
- Also: Daily briefing: Life-seeking NASA mission to Europa is go | Nature
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