NASA has now begun its mission to learn if Europa, Jupiter's icy moon could potentially harbor an ocean filled with alien life. So far, the mission is just in its early stages, but the agency has selected nine science instruments for the trip, which is a follow to the Galileo mission that found strong evidence that Europa could be concealing an ocean beneath its frozen crust.
Europa is roughly the same size as Earth's moon. Scientists believe that if its crust is indeed concealing an icy sea, the body could have more than twice as much water as Earth. If this proves to be true, the abundant amount of salt water combined with a rocky sea floor and the energy and chemistry from tidal heating could mean that Europa could turn out to be the best place in our Solar System to search for alien life.
"Europa has tantalized us with its enigmatic icy surface and evidence of a vast ocean, following the amazing data from 11 flybys of the Galileo spacecraft over a decade ago and recent Hubble observations suggesting plumes of water shooting out from the moon," said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, in a statement.
"We're excited about the potential of this new mission and these instruments to unravel the mysteries of Europa in our quest to find evidence of life beyond Earth."
President Barack Obama announced the mission to Europa back in February and it is seen by astrobiologists as the best place to look for life beyond our own planet. NASA's fiscal year 2016 budget included a request for $30 million to develop a new spacecraft to visit Jupiter's moon.
The plan is to send a solar powered satellite into a long, looping orbit around Jupiter in order to get in repeated close flybys of Europa over a three-year period. NASA hopes during that time it can complete 45 flybys at altitudes ranging from 1,700 miles to as close as 16 miles.
The instruments chosen for this new mission were selected out of 33 proposals from researchers from the mission, which is scheduled to launch in the 2020s.
"This is a giant step in our search for oases that could support life in our own celestial backyard," said Curt Niebur, Europa program scientist at NASA Headquarters. "We're confident that this versatile set of science instruments will produce exciting discoveries on a much-anticipated mission."
