Science NASA just announced it'll be visiting this beautiful moon for the first time

**Dave Lane** · 02-03-2015, 08:00 PM

The hunt for extraterrestrial life just grew a little hotter.

On Monday, during his State of NASA speech, administrator Charles Bolden announced that NASA would be selecting projects to accompany a probe to Jupiter's moon Europa.

Floating in space about 390 million miles from earth, Europa is a remote ice ball that harbors a massive ocean underneath its surface.

So massive, in fact, that scientists suspect Europa could have as much as two to three times more liquid water than Earth does.

Judging from the abundance of life thriving in Earth's oceans, where there's liquid water, there's the potential for life.

Not only that, Europa is absolutely gorgeous:

Europa is about 1,900 miles in diameter — slightly smaller than our moon. The brown veins that give the moon it's iconic beauty are still a mystery, but the leading theory is that they show where Europa's crust cracked open, letting warmer, dirtier water seep through and then freeze.
Jupiter's strong gravitational tug on the tiny moon generates tidal forces that stretch the entire surface — similar to how the Moon's gravity tugs the water in Earth's oceans, creating tides. The stretching then cracks the crust, letting water deep beneath the surface to seep through.

But that's not the only impact the gas giant has on its moon. As NASA astrobiologist Kevin Hand explains in a video about Europa:

Europa has liquid water because the moon is orbiting Jupiter, and the tidal tug and pull causes Europa to flex up and down — all that tidal energy turns into friction and heat that helps maintain this liquid water ocean beneath an icy shell.

Below is a close-up of the circular impact crater in the southern hemisphere in the image above. Called Pwyll, the impact crater is a relatively new feature on the surface of Europa, and it is also compelling evidence of the enormous ocean sloshing underneath the surface.
Scientists suspect that when the impactor hit, it splattered fresh, fine water ice particles everywhere that now show up as the bright-white arms adorning the moon's face around the darker crater. NASA's Galileo spacecraft — the only probe to fly by Europa more than once — took the image below in 1998 showing the darker crater, which is about 16 miles in diameter.

he impact crater's arms reach far across the surface. Even 620 miles north of the crater you can see evidence of the white streaks in the awesome close-up shot below.
The white and blue colors are the residual ice particles from the blast. Galileo snapped this photo of this region, which is 44 miles wide by 19 miles long, in 1996.

Although Galileo took the most detailed images of Europa we have, astronomers still don't know exactly how much liquid water there is or if life hides underneath the moon's icy shell. That is why, just last year, NASA issued a Request for Information to the scientific community to offer up ideas on the best, economically viable approach to study this amazing moon.
Now, it looks as if some of those ideas might have paid off as scientists look forward to learning more about the future mission to Europa this spring.

According to NASA the mission should complete the following tasks:

Characterize the extent of the ocean and its relation to the deeper interior
Characterize the ice shell and any subsurface water, including their heterogeneity, and the nature of surface-ice-ocean exchange
Determine global surface, compositions and chemistry, especially as related to habitability
Understand the formation of surface features, including sites of recent or current activity, identify and characterize candidate sites for future detailed exploration
Understand Europa’s space environment and interaction with the magnetosphere.
Twitter users expressed their excitement about the latest news:

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-...#ixzz3QjmtNrnU

-King- · 02-03-2015, 08:03 PM

Europa Report

**Easy 6** · 02-03-2015, 08:14 PM

Its awe inspiring to wonder what kinds of creatures might be swimming around, this could end up being far more exciting than Mars.

listopencil · 02-03-2015, 08:26 PM

Sounds great. Heat, water and (hopefully?) chemical reactions. This is a massive frontier that we've barely looked at.

**Rausch** · 02-03-2015, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easy 6

Its awe inspiring to wonder what kinds of creatures might be swimming around, this could end up being far more exciting than Mars.

It should be.

And the likelihood of it being contaminated by life from Earth is much, MUCH smaller than Mars...

**notorious** · 02-03-2015, 08:31 PM

YES!

My favorite object in the Solar System.

KC_Lee · 02-03-2015, 08:33 PM

What's the over / under on finding a large, black, rectangular obelisk?

Nightfyre · 02-03-2015, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notorious

YES!

My favorite object in the Solar System.

I hope you are including all of the objects on earth in this assessment.

**notorious** · 02-03-2015, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KC_Lee

What's the over / under on finding a large, black, rectangular obelisk?

**notorious** · 02-03-2015, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

I hope you are including all of the objects on earth in this assessment.

Other than Earth

listopencil · 02-03-2015, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Easy 6

Its awe inspiring to wonder what kinds of creatures might be swimming around, this could end up being far more exciting than Mars.

Hammock Parties · 02-03-2015, 08:41 PM

Watch the movie Europa Report. Good hard sci-fi.

**notorious** · 02-03-2015, 08:43 PM

Yeah, it's pretty good.

-King- · 02-03-2015, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numbah One

Watch the movie Europa Report. Good hard sci-fi.

It's not really hard sci fi....

**notorious** · 02-03-2015, 08:46 PM

"Lifeforce" was hard Sci-Fi, especially during my teen years.

02-03-2015, 08:00 PM
Dave Lane Space Cadet and Aczabel Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Kanab, UT, USA Casino cash: $9333275 VARSITY	NASA just announced it'll be visiting this beautiful moon for the first time The hunt for extraterrestrial life just grew a little hotter. On Monday, during his State of NASA speech, administrator Charles Bolden announced that NASA would be selecting projects to accompany a probe to Jupiter's moon Europa. Floating in space about 390 million miles from earth, Europa is a remote ice ball that harbors a massive ocean underneath its surface. So massive, in fact, that scientists suspect Europa could have as much as two to three times more liquid water than Earth does. Judging from the abundance of life thriving in Earth's oceans, where there's liquid water, there's the potential for life. Not only that, Europa is absolutely gorgeous: Europa is about 1,900 miles in diameter — slightly smaller than our moon. The brown veins that give the moon it's iconic beauty are still a mystery, but the leading theory is that they show where Europa's crust cracked open, letting warmer, dirtier water seep through and then freeze. Jupiter's strong gravitational tug on the tiny moon generates tidal forces that stretch the entire surface — similar to how the Moon's gravity tugs the water in Earth's oceans, creating tides. The stretching then cracks the crust, letting water deep beneath the surface to seep through. But that's not the only impact the gas giant has on its moon. As NASA astrobiologist Kevin Hand explains in a video about Europa: Europa has liquid water because the moon is orbiting Jupiter, and the tidal tug and pull causes Europa to flex up and down — all that tidal energy turns into friction and heat that helps maintain this liquid water ocean beneath an icy shell. Below is a close-up of the circular impact crater in the southern hemisphere in the image above. Called Pwyll, the impact crater is a relatively new feature on the surface of Europa, and it is also compelling evidence of the enormous ocean sloshing underneath the surface. Scientists suspect that when the impactor hit, it splattered fresh, fine water ice particles everywhere that now show up as the bright-white arms adorning the moon's face around the darker crater. NASA's Galileo spacecraft — the only probe to fly by Europa more than once — took the image below in 1998 showing the darker crater, which is about 16 miles in diameter. he impact crater's arms reach far across the surface. Even 620 miles north of the crater you can see evidence of the white streaks in the awesome close-up shot below. The white and blue colors are the residual ice particles from the blast. Galileo snapped this photo of this region, which is 44 miles wide by 19 miles long, in 1996. Although Galileo took the most detailed images of Europa we have, astronomers still don't know exactly how much liquid water there is or if life hides underneath the moon's icy shell. That is why, just last year, NASA issued a Request for Information to the scientific community to offer up ideas on the best, economically viable approach to study this amazing moon. Now, it looks as if some of those ideas might have paid off as scientists look forward to learning more about the future mission to Europa this spring. According to NASA the mission should complete the following tasks: Characterize the extent of the ocean and its relation to the deeper interior Characterize the ice shell and any subsurface water, including their heterogeneity, and the nature of surface-ice-ocean exchange Determine global surface, compositions and chemistry, especially as related to habitability Understand the formation of surface features, including sites of recent or current activity, identify and characterize candidate sites for future detailed exploration Understand Europa’s space environment and interaction with the magnetosphere. Twitter users expressed their excitement about the latest news: Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-...#ixzz3QjmtNrnU
Posts: 40,584

02-03-2015, 08:03 PM	#2
-King- ▓▓▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▓▓ Join Date: Jan 2009 Casino cash: $2565743	Europa Report __________________ 🏁
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02-03-2015, 08:14 PM	#3
Easy 6 pie is never free Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: the drivers seat Casino cash: $3807775	Its awe inspiring to wonder what kinds of creatures might be swimming around, this could end up being far more exciting than Mars.
Posts: 91,590

02-03-2015, 08:26 PM	#4
listopencil Immanentize The Eschaton Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: In Partibus Infidelium Casino cash: $2305880	Sounds great. Heat, water and (hopefully?) chemical reactions. This is a massive frontier that we've barely looked at. __________________ Everything the State says is a lie, and everything it has...it has stolen.
Posts: 55,890

02-03-2015, 08:31 PM	#6
notorious Supporter Join Date: May 2005 Location: Who knows? Casino cash: $3005884	YES! My favorite object in the Solar System.
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02-03-2015, 08:33 PM	#7
KC_Lee You're CARICATURES, ALL of you Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Kansas City, MO Casino cash: $2050960	What's the over / under on finding a large, black, rectangular obelisk? __________________ “There is no absolute knowledge. And those who claim it, whether they are scientists or dogmatists, open the door to tragedy.” - Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man
Posts: 9,145

02-03-2015, 08:41 PM	#12
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $4790478	Watch the movie Europa Report. Good hard sci-fi. __________________ Chiefs game films
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02-03-2015, 08:43 PM	#13
notorious Supporter Join Date: May 2005 Location: Who knows? Casino cash: $3005884	Yeah, it's pretty good.
Posts: 83,211

02-03-2015, 08:46 PM	#15
notorious Supporter Join Date: May 2005 Location: Who knows? Casino cash: $3005884	"Lifeforce" was hard Sci-Fi, especially during my teen years.
Posts: 83,211