Jupiter-Bound Mission

One of the most tantalizing worlds in the solar system is Europa, a moon of Jupiter covered in a rind of ice, beneath which, scientists believe, lies a warm, salty, mineral-rich ocean—and possibly living organisms. NASA just launched the $5 billion Europa Clipper spacecraft—its largest ever on a planetary mission, measuring the length of a basketball court with solar panels for power on its long journey—to study the ice and the sloshing seas below, upon its arrival at Jupiter in 2030. “Although Europa Clipper is not a life-detection mission,” says Bonnie Buratti, the mission’s deputy project scientist, “we’ll be seeking those things that sustain life: liquid water, the right kind of chemistry that includes prebiotic molecules, and evidence of thermal energy provided by Jupiter’s strong gravity.”