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  • The search for extraterrestrial life extends into the far reaches of our galaxy and while

  • several distant exoplanets are strong candidates to maybe host life,

  • what if the most promising destination is right in our celestial backyard?

  • The perfect conditions for alien life, might just be hidden under the icy crust of Jupiter’s

  • moon, Europa, and since it’s in our solar system, we can actually go to it.

  • A new mission from NASA just got the green light to proceed with building an in-depth,

  • investigative orbiter named Europa Clipper.

  • This will be the first time we send a spacecraft to a moon other than our own, and perhaps,

  • uncover that we might not be alone in the universe.

  • So NASA has reason to believe that Europa is potentially habitable because of the

  • information theyve received from the Hubble Space Telescope, and from previous space missions.

  • These spacecraft weren’t destined for Europa, but they took measurements of the moon’s

  • surface while passing by.

  • It was from one of these flybys that the strongest piece of evidence of Europa’s ocean emerged.

  • The Galileo mission measured a deep magnetic field that could only be produced by an electrically

  • conductive fluid under the moon’s 15 to 25 kilometers thick icy layer.

  • Scientists estimate, even though the moon is 10% smaller than our own, the predicted

  • salt water ocean underneath could be twice the volume of all of Earth’s oceans combined.

  • Now, life as we know it needs at least three requirements: liquid water, the right chemical

  • elements, and an energy source.

  • So while this icy world probably has water, and possible elements, it’s been hard to nail down an

  • energy source on Europa, but NASA’s orbiter is prepared to find it.

  • The Europa Clipper’s payload will be stocked with nine different instruments.

  • Each built by researchers across the U.S. and curated by NASA specifically for this

  • mission.

  • Some of the equipment are systems like cameras and spectrometers that aim to map and produce

  • high-resolution images.

  • But other specialized machinery includes a dual-frequency radar instrument that can penetrate

  • the thickness of Europa’s icy shell in search for subsurface lakeslike the ones found

  • in Antarctica.

  • There will also be a magnetometer device and a plasma instrument that together, will measure

  • Europa’s magnetic field and the ocean’s depth and salinity. And even more tools will be

  • searching for water plumes erupting from the moon’s surface, and will be able to detect even

  • tiny water particles in the atmosphere.

  • These droplets might be connected to the hidden subsurface ocean.

  • Every instrument onboard is designed to paint a detailed picture of the moon’s composition

  • from the surface to the atmosphere, without actually landing on it.

  • In fact, the spacecraft won’t be orbiting Europa at all.

  • The moon sits within one of Jupiter’s intense bands of radiation.

  • And although Clipper is armed to withstand some radioactive emissions, it wouldn’t last

  • more than a few weeks around Europa.

  • Instead, the orbiter will be using Jupiter’s gravitational pull to loop around Europa on

  • 45 close flybys.

  • Some as close as 25 kilometers.

  • Now, just to be clear, at the very least, if scientists do find life, they are expecting

  • it to be most likely in the form of tiny microbes.

  • Maybe similar to the extremophile creatures we have on Earth that thrive in subterranean

  • volcanoes, deep-sea vents, or arid deserts.

  • There could be something more complex to find, but at the moment, there’s a bigger hurdle

  • still facing this mission; how will it get there?

  • According to NASA, the Europa Clipper remains on target for a launch between 2023 and 2025.

  • The question is whether it will fly on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, which may not

  • be ready in the next few years, or if it will ride atop a commercial rocket, like SpaceX’s Falcon

  • Heavy or United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy.

  • But commercial options lead to more travel time in space, which Clipper might not be

  • ready for.

  • Timelines aren’t matching up and the politics are still murky for this pivotal mission,

  • which makes the anticipation all the more nail-biting.

  • Because of the challenges of distance and radiation, paired with the enormously tantalizing

  • idea of finding life beyond Earth, Europa Clipper is maybe one of the most ambitious missions

  • ever attempted by NASA.

  • We still have some years before anything is leaving the ground, but well be keeping a watchful eye

  • on this mission that could change our perspective of life in the universe forever.

  • Europa Clipper is exciting, so exciting in fact that people are pushing to send a lander next!

  • But well have to get there first.

  • If you want more launch updates in your day, check out the Countdown to Launch playlist here

  • and subscribe to Seeker for all your rocket needs.

  • Thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time.

The search for extraterrestrial life extends into the far reaches of our galaxy and while

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