NASA announced on March 10, 2017, that they are planning to send a rover to the Jupiter's icy moon Europa in search of life and habitability. The Space Agency has named the mission "europa clipper," and it is expected to have its launch in the 2020s. After its launch, the spacecraft is expected to reach Jupiter in 2.7 years, and after reaching the destination, it will sail past Europa twice in a month making 40 - 45 flybys. This mission is expected to cost around $8 billion, and this includes the launch vehicle and the landing cost. The researchers in NASA have named this mission "Clipper" as clipper ships were widely considered as the fast wheeling ships during the middle of the 19th century.
Does Europa possess life?
The physical condition in Europa has been baffling astronomers and space researchers for many years as it holds salty liquid water ocean beneath its icy surface. And water means; the possibility of Alien Life.
The primary aim of this mission is to figure out whether this moon is capable of possessing the three necessary elements of life; chemical ingredients, liquid water, and sufficient energy sources to sustain life. Now, scientists are working on a very limited date regarding the Europa, as the Galileo probe focussed on Jupiter alone.
Why does NASA consider Europa as a fertile plain of extra-terrestrial life?
It's official! @NASA's mission to explore an ocean world orbiting Jupiter will be called #Europa Clipper. https://t.co/Jk5V5REbCS pic.twitter.com/7dkWwy96ei
— NASA Europa Clipper (@NASAEuropa) March 7, 2017
Robert Pappalardo, Europa Clipper project scientist at NASA said; "During each orbit, the spacecraft spends only a short time within the challenging radiation environment near Europa.
It speeds past, gathers a huge amount of science data, then sails on out of there,"
Meet 'Europa Clipper': NASA Mission to Icy Jupiter Moon Officially Named https://t.co/JZ9u3p4rrR pic.twitter.com/9FKhquJyNz
— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) March 10, 2017
On the first look, Europa will resemble like a deserted planet which is very much prone to harmful radiations from Jupiter.
The surface of Europa is filled with ice, but beneath that, there is a deep ocean which is more than 60 miles deep.
As per researchers in NASA, Europa holds twice as much water than the earth, and they believe that the radiations from Jupiter will actually benefit the lives of possible creatures living in the underground ocean.
