What should we take to Europa? NASA picks science instruments.

For its mission to Europa, NASA plans on bringing instruments to scan the surface and analyze the water of Jupiter's icy moon.

|
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute
Europa imaged by NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

Sen—Science instruments have been chosen for a NASA mission to Jupiter's icy moon Europa to discover if it has conditions suitable for alien life.

Evidence that the moon has a sub-surface ocean was first provided by NASA's Galileo probe which orbited Jupiter between 1995 and 2003. More recently, the Hubble Space Telescope detected water vapour up to 201 km (125 miles) above Europa's south polar region, suggesting that water plumes are bursting into space through the moon's icy crust.

“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 NASA's John Grunsfeld, 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.”

The proposed mission is for a spacecraft to orbit Jupiter and study Europa over a three year period by making 45 flybys of the moon, swooping as low as 25 km (16 miles) above the surface.

NASA's 2016 budget request includes $30 million allocated for mission design.

The instruments selected for the mission include cameras and spectrometers that can determine the composition of the surface, and radar that can measure the thickness of the icy crust and detect the existence of the underground ocean or sub-surface lakes.

A magnetometer has also been chosen to analyse the moon's magnetic field, from which scientists will be able to analyse the saltiness and depth of underground water.

There will also be instruments to search for water plumes and water vapor in the atmosphere.

Europa is one of the four Galilean moons discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610, the others being Ganymede, Callisto and Io.

Though the smallest of the four Galilean moons, with a diameter of 3,122 km (1,940 miles) Europa is still the sixth largest satellite in the Solar System.

Meanwhile NASA's Juno spacecraft is due to arrive at Jupiter in July 2016. The probe will enter a low polar orbit with the aim of better understanding Jupiter's formation and structure as well as studying the planet’s dynamic aurorae.

The European Space Agency are also working on a mission to study Europa, as well as Ganymede and Callisto, with its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE). The spacecraft is due to launch in 2022 and arrive at the Jovian system in 2030.

Related Links:

Scientists recreate Europa's red marks in laboratory experiment

Scientists find evidence of water plumes erupting on Europa

Europa mission but a lost Opportunity in new NASA budget

Original story from Sen. © 2015 Sen TV Limited. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. For more space news visit Sen.com and follow @sen on Twitter.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to What should we take to Europa? NASA picks science instruments.
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0527/What-should-we-take-to-Europa-NASA-picks-science-instruments
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe