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| Jupiter's ice-covered satellite, Europa |
The Galileo mission found evidence that there may be an ocean beneath Europa's jumbled, chaotic surface. If water is beneath Europa's ice, does that mean that life is there as well? NASA is working on an exploration strategy to return to Europa.
The next mission planned for the Jovian system is the Europa Orbiter. After first orbiting Jupiter for a year, it will circle Europa for one month, looking for an ocean --- an ocean that scientists think could have twice as much water as the Earth.
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| An artist rendering of Hydrobot/Cryobot Under the Ice of Europa |
If the Europa Orbiter finds a submerged ocean, we could look for landing sites where instruments could descend to the surface, melt through the ice, and deploy "hydrobots" --- submarine robotic explorers.
Hydrobots equipped with cameras, sensors, and telecommunications could tell us what the oceans of Europa are like. It would be critical not to contaminate the environment. Scientists are already practicing such techniques on Earth at Lake Vostok in Antarctica.
We might look for evidence of thermal vents on Europa's ocean floor. On Earth, life forms have been found near very hot thermal vents at extreme ocean depths. Perhaps Europa harbors life in such extreme environments, too. Scientists and engineers will be deciding which advanced technologies could be used to investigate our questions about Europa.
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