Is Jupiter’s icy moon Europa home to life? NASA will investigate this question after selecting nine instruments to conduct a mission. It will have two goals: Is the moon suitable for human life? 2. Are there any signs of life? Galileo data shows that Europa is approximately the same size as our Moon and has evidence of an ocean below its frozen crust. It would contain twice the amount of water that Earth if it is proven to exist. Data so far show that Europa is rich in saltwater, has a rock sea floor and benefits from tidal heating, which provides energy and chemicals. This could be, aside from Earth, the best place in our solar system for living as we know. The artist’s impression below shows the concept of a NASA future mission to Europa. Image: NASA/JPL–Caltech. John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington said that Europa has “tasted us with its mysterious icy surface, evidence of an ocean” and following data from the Galileo spacecraft’s flybys over a decade ago. He also mentioned recent Hubble observations that show plumes of water rising from the moon. NASA currently has $30million available from their fiscal year 2016. NASA budget is set aside to fund for Europa mission. A solar-powered probe would be sent into an orbit about Jupiter to conduct repeated flybuses of Europe. It will do this for 36 month. It would fly by 45 orbits in the range 16, 1 ,700 mile (25, and 2 ,700 kilometers. NASA selected several key instruments to create high-resolution photographs of Europa’s surface. NASA has also chosen an ice penetrating radar for determining the thickness of Europe’s icy shell and searching for similar subsurface lakes to Antarctica. A magnetometer will be installed on the probe to detect the direction and strength of Europa’s magnetic fields. This will enable researchers to assess the ocean’s salinity, and depth. While the thermal instrument will be searching for recent warmer-water eruptions on the moon’s surface, other instruments will look for water or tiny particles in its thin atmosphere. Europa’s unusual features suggest that it has a warm interior. Image: NASA/JPL–Caltech. In 2012, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed water vapour over the South Polar Region of Jupiter’s Moon, giving the first convincing evidence for water plumes. The next probe will confirm that the plumes exist. This will allow researchers to study the chemical composition of Europa’s potential habitable environment. It won’t require them to dig through layers of ice, but it could help scientists. Nine instruments were chosen from a total 33 of proposals submitted by researchers to study Europa. NASA anticipates that the mission will launch sometime in the next decade. NASA Headquarters’ Europa Program Scientist Curt Niebur said that this mission is an important step in the search for life-sustaining oases in our celestial backyard. This versatile science instrument set will make exciting discoveries in a highly anticipated mission. Video: NASA’s Europa mission
