NASA is poised to send a probe across the solar system to Jupiter’s moon, Europa. By the next decade, their ambition may come to fruition.
The Europa mission is a purposeful one, seeking to survey the icy Jovian moon. It has moved from the concept stage to the development stage. From NASA:
“‘Today we’re taking an exciting step from concept to mission, in our quest to find signs of life beyond Earth,’ said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. ‘Observations of Europa have provided us with tantalizing clues over the last two decades, and the time has come to seek answers to one of humanity’s most profound questions.'”
But why Europa? Why not another moon or planet in the solar system?
Europa is interesting in that it is suspected, among pretty solid evidence, to have water underneath the ice. In fact, it’s suggested that Europa may have about twice as much water as Earth. If Europa, the sixth largest moon in the solar system, contains abundant salt water, a rocky floor at the bottom of its ocean, and tidal heating, it stands to reason there may be, at the very least, simple microbial life on the moon.
If so, then we are not alone in our solar system, and it’s in this writer’s opinion, that no scientific discovery will be more ground-breaking than discovering life flourishes outside of our planet. If life can manifest in other parts of our solar system, then it stands to reason that life could manifest in other parts of our galaxy and our universe.
How will this mission work? From NASA:
“The mission plan calls for a spacecraft to be launched to Jupiter in the 2020s, arriving in the distant planet’s orbit after a journey of several years. The spacecraft would orbit the giant planet about every two weeks, providing many opportunities for close flybys of Europa.?The mission plan includes 45 flybys, during which the spacecraft would image the moon’s icy surface at high resolution and investigate its composition and the structure of its interior and icy shell.”
I know I’m looking forward to the possibility there might be life in other parts of the solar system. Are you?
