Exploring Jupiter’s Moons
Though NASA launched the Juno mission to explore Jupiter’s formation and properties, the giant planet’s moons remain one of the most interesting targets in the solar system.
A long-standing concept is the international Europa Jupiter System Mission/Laplace. The mission, developed together by NASA and ESA with possible additions from both the Japanese and Russian space agencies, would have sent spacecraft to orbit two of Jupiter’s moons: Europa and Ganymede. Both are known to contain water ice, with an enormous ocean suspected of sitting below the surface of Europa’s frigid crust. The potential for life on either of these worlds makes a compelling case for further exploration.
The NASA component of this mission was estimated at $4.7 billion last year, a price that is too far out of range for even the most optimistic NASA budget scenarios, and the mission has been put on ice. But the concept lives on with the European component, now called the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE). Recently selected for a 2022 launch date, this mission will visit the Jovian system, focusing on the previous two moons and one other, Callisto.
Perhaps one day in the far future, NASA or another space agency will get to work on one of the most ambitious proposals that periodically pops up: a lander and drill to explore the ocean on Europa. Using a heated head, a probe could slip down through the Europan ice and deposit a remote submersible in the water to explore and search for any life forms. While the technical challenges of such a mission would be great, the payoff could potentially be spectacular.
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Images: 1) The Europa Jupiter System Mission/Laplace mission. Michael Carroll/NASA. 2) A cryobot that could explore the ocean of Europa. NASA
