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Europa Clipper

  • An upcoming NASA mission could detect life on Jupiter's icy moon Europa in the next decade
    Space
    NASA mission could detect alien life from a single cell as early as 2030
    We might find alien life as soon as 2030, suggests a new study. A lab experiment has shown instruments on a spacecraft headed to one of the most promising worlds to find life are sensitive enough to detect a single living cell in a single ice grain.
  • The case for life on Jupiter's moon Europa just got stronger, thanks to the detection of carbon dioxide on its surface
    Space
    James Webb spots carbon on Europa, boosting case for life
    The best places to search for life beyond Earth aren’t planets like Mars – they’re icy moons like Europa. The case for life on this watery world just got stronger, as the James Webb Space Telescope has detected a fresh carbon source there.
  • An artist's impression of the SWIM robots being released into the chilly waters of an alien moon, from a probe that melts its way through the ice
    Space
    NASA concept proposes swarm of swimming robots to explore alien oceans
    Subsurface oceans on moons are some of the most promising places to look for life beyond Earth. NASA is now funding a project to develop a swarm of small swimming robots that would explore these alien oceans for signs of extraterrestrial life.
  • An artist's representation of a plume erupting from a shallow pocket of briny water below the icy surface of Europa
    Space
    Europa's plumes may not originate from subsurface ocean
    Jupiter’s moon Europa is a fascinating world, with a global subsurface ocean encased in an icy shell and plumes of water that vent into space. A new study has simulated how these plumes might originate, revealing a surprisingly dynamic ice ball.
  • Artist's concept of the glowing dark side of Europa
    Space
    Radiation bombardment from Jupiter makes Europa glow in the dark
    Giving a new meaning to the word "moonshine," NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, have concluded that Jupiter's moon Europa glows in the dark due to being constantly bombarded with high-energy radiation.
  • Artist's impression of the Europa Clipper
    Space
    NASA confirms mission to study Jupiter's icy moon
    NASA has given the official go-ahead for the Europa Clipper deep-space mission to make a detailed survey of one of Jupiter's largest moons. The unmanned mission can now proceed to its final design phase ahead of the building and testing of the spacecraft and its instruments.
  • A full-scale prototype of the high-gain antenna on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft is undergoing testing in the Experimental Test Range at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia
    Space
    NASA tests Europa Clipper antenna for future Jupiter moon mission
    A key element of NASA's Europa Clipper is being put through its paces as a prototype of the probe's High-Gain Antenna (HGA) undergoes testing at the Experimental Test Range (ETR). The HGA will be used to keep the Clipper in contact as it conducts a series of flybys of Jupiter's moon Europa.
  • A new study suggests Europa's surface could be dotted with giant penitentes (ice spikes), such as those seen here in the Andes of Argentina
    Space
    50-foot ice spikes may dot Europa's surface
    While NASA has plans to possibly send a lander to Europa in the coming years, a new discovery might make touchdown tricky – there’s a chance that large swathes of Europa’s surface are covered in ice spikes almost 50 ft (15 m) high.
  • An artist's concept of the plumes at Enceladus' south pole
    Space
    Saturn's moon may be "like a candy store for microbes"
    A new NASA report says that the Cassini probe has found evidence that hydrogen exists on Enceladus. The finding adds to the idea that the moon might harbor life in its subsurface ocean, as microbes could feed on the gas. Plus, Hubble has spied a plume on Europa for the second time.