NASA is headed to Europa in search of Alien Life

Jupiter’s 4th Largest Moon is a ripe candidate from previous studies

The premiere space agency NASA has finalized plans to send the Europa Clipper mission to the Icy moon of Jupiter as early as 2023. The main focus of sending out the reconnaissance orbiter is to find signs of life beneath its subsurface ocean. The orbiter used for the purpose is a highly advanced, radiation-tolerant spacecraft (figure below).

Europa is the fourth largest of the 79 moons of the gas giant Jupiter and sixth closest to the planet. It was discovered by Galileo Galilei somewhere in between 1609–1610 among the other three bigger ones — Io, Ganymede & Callisto. Observations from the ground-based telescopes & studies from the landmark Voyager spacecraft, Galileo and Cassini have provided strong evidence of an ocean of liquid water beneath Europa’s icy crust.

This has pulled Europa out of obscurity — scientists suggest that the icy crust is about 10-15 miles (15 to 25 kilometers) thick, floating on an ocean 40-100 miles (60 to 150 kilometers) deep. While Europa is one quarter the diameter of Earth & only 65% the mass of Earth’s moon, its deep oceans are the best bet of finding life beyond our own planet.