Jupiter Moon Mission

The possibility of life other than on earth has always been an interesting topic to many and when it shows up in the news that scientist have discovered possible life it is always a interesting topic. What life am I talking you ask well how about the life that scientist have discovered there might be frozen water under the crust of one of Jupiter's moons. Work for the probe starts this summer the European Space Agency has decided that Airbus Defence and Space in France will build the probe for launch in 2022. So why do scientist think there is water on Europa because in 2012 the hubble space telescope discovered water vapor over the south polar region of the moon. The project manager for this mission Olivier Witasse says there is no direct proof of this but there are hints that show their could be frozen oceans under the crust of the moon that may contain bacteria. She also says this project (which will cost 993 million U.S. dollars) will be very exciting because it will allow for multiple drive bys of diverse moons. The mission will be called Juice (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) it will not only investigate Europa but also Jupiter and two of its other moons. The probe will spend 3 ½ years exploring the jovian system after a journey that will take years. The Juice mission will face serious challenges though. One of these is that the solar panels on the probe will have to be huge to generate enough power for the trip to Jupiter and when it is at Jupiter because the sunlight energy there is 25 times lower than on earth. The company says that the solar panels will cover 97 square meters making them the largest panels ever built on a ship for interplanetary travel. The panels will not only be large but they will have to be light but also strong so that it can withstand the forces of deceleration when going into orbit. If all of this wasn’t already extremely difficult the instruments will also have to be heavily shielded so that they can withstand the intense magnetic field around Jupiter.

This is what NASA has to say about each of the target moons of this expedition.

Europa: The moon stretches and flexes in creating heat and possibly explaining the cracks on its surface. They also think that there could be a saltwater ocean under the surface of the moon.

Callisto: NASA says that this moon is the most heavily cratered object in our solar systems. Its core is rocky and it is surrounded by a shell of ice and rock

Ganymede: It is larger than Mercury and Pluto even though it is a moon it also has an iron core and is surrounded by a shell of ice and rock.

Any discoveries from the Juice Mission are more than 15 years away, but in the meantime, the search for more Earth-like planets goes on.