--- title: NASA Mission to Jupiter's Moon Europa to Search For Life description: Scientists may soon head to the icy surface of Europa to search for evidence canonical: https://time.com/3717591/nasa-jupiter-moon-life/ author: Samantha Grossman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-21T13:52:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:34.580Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA Thinks There May Be Life on Jupiter's Moon og:description: Scientists may soon head to the icy surface of Europa to search for evidence og:url: https://time.com/3717591/nasa-jupiter-moon-life/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a0855342225738a/698780615f570f90adb1565a/jupiter-europa-moon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Jupiter Europa moon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA Thinks There May Be Life on Jupiter's Moon twitter:description: Scientists may soon head to the icy surface of Europa to search for evidence twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a0855342225738a/698780615f570f90adb1565a/jupiter-europa-moon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA Thinks There May Be Life on Jupiter's Moon > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: A One Way Ticket to Mars: Behind the Mars One Project [Watch (HLS stream): A One Way Ticket to Mars: Behind the Mars One Project](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Qod0g2We.m3u8) (5:00)  _Published 2013-06-02. A private space venture plans to beat NASA in getting people to the red planet by at least a decade. The catch? It's a one-way trip. Mars One will now take your application._ by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Feb 21, 2015 1:52 PM UTC  A new mosaic made from images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990's is shown of the surface of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa, as it looms large in this newly-reprocessed, higher resolution color view in this handout provided by NASA in Nov. 2014. A new mosaic made from images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990's is shown of the surface of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa, as it looms large in this newly-reprocessed, higher resolution color view in this handout provided by NASA in Nov. 2014. NASA—Reuters by [Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/) ## Samantha Grossman Feb 21, 2015 1:52 PM UTC David Bowie once speculated about [life on Mars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v--IqqusnNQ), and now NASA scientists are wondering the same thing about Jupiter’s moon Europa. A potential mission may soon be sending NASA scientists to the small, icy moon to search for signs of alien life, _Space.com_ [reports](http://www.space.com/28614-nasa-europa-mission-alien-life.html). NASA officials held a workshop Wednesday at the Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley to discuss the matter. “This is our chance,” said NASA science chief John Grunsfeld. “I just hope we don’t miss this opportunity for lack of ideas.” Specifically, scientists plan to search the plumes of water vapor, first spotted by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope in 2012, that blast from the moon’s south polar region. This will allow researchers to sample the liquid hidden beneath Europa’s icy surface. Plans for a Europa mission have been in the works for years, but NASA got closer to making it a reality when the White House [allocated $30 million ](http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-nasa-budget-europa-mars-proposal-white-house-20150203-story.html)for a Europa mission in its 2016 budget request. \[[_Space.com_](http://www.space.com/28614-nasa-europa-mission-alien-life.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3717591/nasa-jupiter-moon-life/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3717591/nasa-jupiter-moon-life/"},"headline":"NASA Thinks There May Be Life on Jupiter's Moon","datePublished":"2015-02-21T13:52:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:48:34.580Z","description":"Scientists may soon head to the icy surface of Europa to search for evidence","url":"https://time.com/3717591/nasa-jupiter-moon-life/","keywords":["Space","Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a0855342225738a/698780615f570f90adb1565a/jupiter-europa-moon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Grossman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a0855342225738a/698780615f570f90adb1565a/jupiter-europa-moon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jupiter Europa moon","caption":"A new mosaic made from images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990's is shown of the surface of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa, as it looms large in this newly-reprocessed, higher resolution color view in this handout provided by NASA in Nov.","creditText":"NASA—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3717591/nasa-jupiter-moon-life/","name":"NASA Thinks There May Be Life on Jupiter's Moon"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A One Way Ticket to Mars: Behind the Mars One Project","description":"A private space venture plans to beat NASA in getting people to the red planet by at least a decade. 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