Chethma De Mel, Jadetimes Staff
C. J. De Mel is a Jadetimes news reporter covering Entertainment News
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft will soon embark on an ambitious journey to the icy moon of Jupiter with hopes of finding life outside of Earth. It will study the icy crust of Europa, which scientists believe only covers a hidden ocean beneath its surface.
Although the Europa Clipper mission is not targeted at finding life, it will study the habitability of the moon. Otherwise, the space agency may need to launch subsequent missions in direct search for microorganisms probably thriving on Europa. Curt Niebur, programme scientist, made it clear: "It's a chance for us to explore not a world that might have been habitable billions of years ago, but a world that might be habitable today — right now."
About the Europa Clipper Mission
The Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft built by NASA to study another planet. The Europa Clipper will take five and half years before reaching Jupiter, where it will come as close as 16 miles to Europa's surface. The mission-a $5.2 billion price tag-is scheduled for this month aboard SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center.
Equipped with huge solar panels to compensate for the weak sunlight far out near Jupiter, this journey will cover 1.8 billion miles. It will also fly by Mars in early 2025 and Earth in late 2026. From there it will journey to Jupiter, passing close enough to the gas giant that its gravity will fling the spacecraft inward on a highly elliptical orbit. Europa Clipper will enter that orbit in 2030, then fly through it a total of 49 times - crossing paths with Europa each time - until the mission ends in 2034 when the spacecraft slams into Ganymede-the largest moon in the solar system.
Possible Life on Europa
Europa, one of the 95 known moons of Jupiter, is roughly the same size as Earth's moon. Its surface is blanketed with a thick crust of ice estimated to be 10 to 15 miles thick, in metric units 15 to 24 kilometers thick. If this frosty layer is appended to the rocky surface, scientists estimate an ocean that may range up to 80 miles deep or in metric units around 120 kilometers deep.
Some scientists also theorize that the ocean floor of Europa may have thermal vents, providing just-right conditions to host life. However, according to Deputy Project Scientist Bonnie Buratti, none of these theories will be tested for confirmation by the Europa Clipper mission with regards to probing into Europa's interior. It would take further missions beyond the Europa Clipper to determine if life exists on Europa itself.
The bottom line is that this mission coming up from NASA will really help in gathering a much bigger understanding concerning the Europa potential habitability, opening the door toward the future explorations in uncovering life beyond Earth.
