NASA heads for mission to find water on Europa, Jupiter’s moon.
NASA’s mission to find life is here. The concept involves conducting an investigation on one of Jupiter’s moons, Europa, and determining its ability to hold life. NASA just completed the first review, and is now looking towards the development phase known as formulation. The space administration is reaffirming the possibility that there may be life on planet Earth. The Science Mission Directorate of NASA seconded the objective and shared how the space agency is now going ahead from concept to mission.
As per the scientists, Europa is a one-of-a-kind place to search for potential life outside Earth, but within our solar system. The space agency is all set to search for life signs on Europa. In addition, the experts say that their observations and research results have found potential clues on life in Europa. It is definitely a strong step towards finding out if, other than Earth, there is anything else in our solar system that supports life.
Launch of a spacecraft to the planet Jupiter will take place in the 2020s.
NASA’s mission involves sending a spacecraft to Jupiter in the 2020s. The craft should reach its orbit after several years, and complete one orbit every two weeks. This activity will provide opportunities for the close flybys of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. The NASA mission will involve 45 flybys, wherein the spacecraft shall capture images of the moon’s icy surface.
The images will be high-resolution and, should provide great detail to the experts who will investigate the structure and composition of Europa’s icy shell. This mission is referred to as the Galileo mission to Jupiter and is expected to produce revolutionary findings in near future.
The NASA Galileo mission displayed strong signs of life in the 1990s.
According to the NASA experts, Jupiter’s moon Europa has a huge ocean right beneath its frozen crust. Similar to the size of Earth’s moon, Europa has the potential to hold twice the amount of water present on Earth. Research results show that with its rocky sea floor, a large amount of salt water, and chemical processes and energy given by tidal heating, Europa has the potential to support organisms. Stay tuned.
