Space
NASA Looks For Life On Europa
Brooke James
First Posted: Feb 13, 2017 04:10 AM EST
NASA is ready to open discussion regarding a proposed system for landing on Jupiter's moon, Europa, in an attempt to search for life beyond our own planet.
India Times noted that the agency commissioned a study last year that assesses the science value and engineering design that could put a lander mission on Europa. Of course, its goals are not limited to such. While it is the primary goal, the space agency is also hoping to assess the habitability of Europa by analyzing materials from the surface as well as to characterize the surface and subsurface to see if it is possible to support future exploration that includes its ocean.
Europa, which is slightly smaller than the Earth's moon, is believed to have global saltwater ocean beneath its crust. The recent discoveries have shown that many bodies in the Solar System actually have this feature and Europa is one of two places where ocean is understood to have a rocky sea floor underneath (the other being Enceladus, Saturn's moon). Because of this, Europa has become one of the highest targets for studies regarding life beyond Earth.
Before all this, however, Perf Science reported that NASA will be launching a flyby mission to Europa in the year 2022, which can help provide valuable data for the agency's engineers that are looking to be part of the Europa Lander Mission. A report from the agency stated, "Europa may hold the clues to one of NASA's long standing goals - to determine whether or not we are alone in the universe. The highest-level science goal of the mission presented here is to search for evidence of life on Europa."
With the fact that Europa also does not have atmosphere, the team was said to have developed a concept that could deliver its payload to the surface without using technologies like heat shield or parachutes.
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NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
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First Posted: Feb 13, 2017 04:10 AM EST
NASA is ready to open discussion regarding a proposed system for landing on Jupiter's moon, Europa, in an attempt to search for life beyond our own planet.
India Times noted that the agency commissioned a study last year that assesses the science value and engineering design that could put a lander mission on Europa. Of course, its goals are not limited to such. While it is the primary goal, the space agency is also hoping to assess the habitability of Europa by analyzing materials from the surface as well as to characterize the surface and subsurface to see if it is possible to support future exploration that includes its ocean.
Europa, which is slightly smaller than the Earth's moon, is believed to have global saltwater ocean beneath its crust. The recent discoveries have shown that many bodies in the Solar System actually have this feature and Europa is one of two places where ocean is understood to have a rocky sea floor underneath (the other being Enceladus, Saturn's moon). Because of this, Europa has become one of the highest targets for studies regarding life beyond Earth.
Before all this, however, Perf Science reported that NASA will be launching a flyby mission to Europa in the year 2022, which can help provide valuable data for the agency's engineers that are looking to be part of the Europa Lander Mission. A report from the agency stated, "Europa may hold the clues to one of NASA's long standing goals - to determine whether or not we are alone in the universe. The highest-level science goal of the mission presented here is to search for evidence of life on Europa."
With the fact that Europa also does not have atmosphere, the team was said to have developed a concept that could deliver its payload to the surface without using technologies like heat shield or parachutes.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone