6 min read<\/p>\n
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Europa](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/pia19048_0.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nThe puzzling surface of Jupiter\u2019s icy moon Europa looms large in this reprocessed color view made from images taken by NASA\u2019s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. The images were assembled into a realistic color view of the surface that approximates how Europa would appear to the human eye. <\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech\/SETI Institute<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWith a spacecraft launching soon, the mission will try to answer the question of whether there are ingredients suitable for life in the ocean below Europa\u2019s icy crust.<\/em><\/p>\nDeep down, in an ocean beneath its ice shell, Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa might be temperate and nutrient-rich, an ideal environment for some form of life \u2014 what scientists would call \u201chabitable.\u201d NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper mission aims to find out.<\/p>\n
NASA now is targeting launch no earlier than Monday, Oct. 14, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n
Europa Clipper\u2019s elongated, looping orbit around Jupiter will minimize the spacecraft\u2019s exposure to intense radiation while allowing it to dive in for close passes by Europa. Using a formidable array of instruments for each of the mission\u2019s 49 flybys, scientists will be able to \u201csee\u201d how thick the moon\u2019s icy shell is and gain a deeper understanding of the vast ocean beneath. They\u2019ll inventory material on the surface that might have come up from below, search for the fingerprints of organic compounds that form life\u2019s building blocks, and sample any gases ejected from the moon for evidence of habitability.<\/p>\n
Mission scientists will analyze the results, probing beneath the moon\u2019s frozen shell for signs of a water world capable of supporting life.<\/p>\n
\n\n\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/e-europas-mysterious-interior-artists-concept.jpg?w=1934\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nThis artist\u2019s concept (not to scale) depicts what Europa\u2019s internal structure could look like: an outer shell of ice, perhaps with plumes of material venting from beneath the surface; a deep, global layer of liquid water; and a rocky interior, potentially with hydrothermal vents on the seafloor.<\/div>\nNASA\/JPL-Caltech<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cIt\u2019s important to us to paint a picture of what that alien ocean is like \u2014 the kind of chemistry or even biochemistry that could be happening there,\u201d said Morgan Cable, an astrobiologist and member of the Europa Clipper science team at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission.<\/p>\n
Ice Investigation<\/strong><\/h3>\nCentral to that work is hunting for the types of salts, ices, and organic material that make up the key ingredients of a habitable world. That\u2019s where an imager called MISE<\/a> (Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa) comes in. Operating in the infrared, the spacecraft\u2019s MISE divides reflected light into various wavelengths to identify the corresponding atoms and molecules.<\/p>\nThe mission will also try to locate potential hot spots near Europa\u2019s surface, where plumes could bring deep ocean material closer to the surface, using an instrument called E-THEMIS<\/a> (Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System), which also operates in the infrared.<\/p>\n
![\"Europa](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/pia19048_0.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>With a spacecraft launching soon, the mission will try to answer the question of whether there are ingredients suitable for life in the ocean below Europa\u2019s icy crust.<\/em><\/p>\n Deep down, in an ocean beneath its ice shell, Jupiter\u2019s moon Europa might be temperate and nutrient-rich, an ideal environment for some form of life \u2014 what scientists would call \u201chabitable.\u201d NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper mission aims to find out.<\/p>\n NASA now is targeting launch no earlier than Monday, Oct. 14, on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n Europa Clipper\u2019s elongated, looping orbit around Jupiter will minimize the spacecraft\u2019s exposure to intense radiation while allowing it to dive in for close passes by Europa. Using a formidable array of instruments for each of the mission\u2019s 49 flybys, scientists will be able to \u201csee\u201d how thick the moon\u2019s icy shell is and gain a deeper understanding of the vast ocean beneath. They\u2019ll inventory material on the surface that might have come up from below, search for the fingerprints of organic compounds that form life\u2019s building blocks, and sample any gases ejected from the moon for evidence of habitability.<\/p>\n Mission scientists will analyze the results, probing beneath the moon\u2019s frozen shell for signs of a water world capable of supporting life.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to us to paint a picture of what that alien ocean is like \u2014 the kind of chemistry or even biochemistry that could be happening there,\u201d said Morgan Cable, an astrobiologist and member of the Europa Clipper science team at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission.<\/p>\n Central to that work is hunting for the types of salts, ices, and organic material that make up the key ingredients of a habitable world. That\u2019s where an imager called MISE<\/a> (Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa) comes in. Operating in the infrared, the spacecraft\u2019s MISE divides reflected light into various wavelengths to identify the corresponding atoms and molecules.<\/p>\n The mission will also try to locate potential hot spots near Europa\u2019s surface, where plumes could bring deep ocean material closer to the surface, using an instrument called E-THEMIS<\/a> (Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System), which also operates in the infrared.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/figure>Ice Investigation<\/strong><\/h3>\n