NASA's Europa Clipper Mission to solve mysteries about life on Jupiter's moon

With an aim to find a new home for life, NASA is ready to launch its Europa Clipper mission to one of Jupiter’s many moons, Europa. Scheduled for launch in 2024, the Europa Clipper probe will study the moon from its deep interior to its surface to determine whether it has ingredients that make it a viable home for life. Jupiter’s Europa caught the eye of scientists after they came across an image released in 2005, that showed erupting watery plumes from the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. This made the scientists wonder if a similar ice-covered world of Europa might have similar plumes holding clues of life. 

Similarities between Europa and Enceladus

According to NASA, Europa is similar to Enceladus in certain aspects, as both are geologically dynamic. Both the moons have been found to generate heat inside as their neighbouring moons and the host planet stretches and flexes the solid layers of these moons with their gravitational influence. It is this heat that keeps subsurface water from freezing on these ice-covered moons despite being so far away from the sun.

The scientists had confirmed that Enceladus is geologically active after discovering giant columns of vapour, ice particles, and organic molecules spraying from the moon's south polar region. "The plume also thrust Enceladus and other worlds in the outer solar system, with no atmospheres and far from the heat of the Sun, toward the top of NASA’s list of places to search for signs of life", NASA said in its statement. 

Discovering Europa's watery plumes

Although scientists have detected faint water plumes and chemical components from Europa using the Galileo spacecraft and Hubble telescope, they are not certain about these events. Lynnae Quick, a member of the science team behind Clipper’s Europa Imaging System (EIS) cameras said as per NASA, "A lot of people think Europa is going to be Enceladus 2.0, with plumes constantly spraying from the surface. But we can’t look at it that way; Europa is a totally different beast". Matthew McKay Hedman, a member of Europa Clipper’s science team also said, "We’re still in the space where there’s really intriguing evidence but none of it is a slam dunk". 

The scientists believe that it is the plumes that will offer easier access to Europa’s interior something that has not happened yet and would reveal many unforeseen facts. "Scientists say there also could be large pockets of melted water in Europa’s ice shell, which are more likely than the ocean to be the source of plumes. These pockets could produce cosy habitats for organisms as well", NASA said. 

(Image: NASA)