NASA is preparing to launch a groundbreaking mission to one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa, to find out if it has the right conditions to support life.
Europa is covered in a thick shell of ice, but underneath, there could be a vast ocean that may be warm and full of nutrients—an environment that could possibly support life.
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will help scientists investigate this mysterious ocean.
The Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch on October 14 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
Once it reaches Jupiter, it will orbit the planet and make 49 flybys of Europa, getting close enough to collect important data without being exposed to the strong radiation around Jupiter for too long.
The spacecraft will use advanced tools to study Europa’s icy surface and the ocean beneath it.
The mission will measure how thick the ice is, examine materials that might have come from the ocean below, and look for signs of organic compounds—key ingredients for life.
Scientists also hope to find gases coming from Europa’s surface, which might provide more clues about its habitability.
Morgan Cable, an astrobiologist on the mission, explained, “We want to understand what’s happening in that alien ocean—what kind of chemistry or even biochemistry might be taking place.”
One of the main goals is to identify the types of salts, ice, and organic materials that are important for a habitable world.
An instrument called MISE (Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa) will study Europa’s surface in great detail to help scientists figure out what elements are present.
The mission will also look for hot spots near the surface, where material from the deep ocean could be reaching Europa’s icy shell. Another instrument, E-THEMIS, will help detect these areas.
Europa may also have plumes of water vapor, similar to what was found on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The spacecraft’s Europa-UVS instrument will search for these plumes and analyze any gases released into space.
In addition, the spacecraft will study Europa’s internal structure, including the ice shell’s thickness and the ocean’s salinity.
It will use a radar system called REASON to see up to 18 miles into the ice and look for signs of pockets of water beneath the surface.
The Europa Clipper mission aims to answer big questions, but it may also raise many new ones, bringing us closer to understanding if life could exist beyond Earth.
