Europa Clipper is On Its Way to Jupiter: This is How the Mission Will Change Our Understanding of Life Forever

As Europa Clipper moves farther away from Earth on its way to the Jupiter moon Europa, let’s take a look at some of the NASA flagship mission’s ways it’ll change our understanding of life forever. 

Falcon Heavy taking off from Kennedy Space Center with Europa Clipper on board; Source: Spaceflight Now

Jupiter has 95 known moons, with the four Galilean moons being some of the most interesting worlds of the Solar System. But scientists are particularly interested in Europa, a moon slightly smaller than the Earth’s Moon. 

What makes Europa so interesting isn’t its surface, but what lies below, as scientists believe that it harbors a global subsurface ocean. And what Earth has taught us best is that where there’s water, there’s life. 

This brings us to the possibility that life exists in the oceans of Europa. Naturally, scientists want to take a closer look to establish whether or not Europa could be habitable—and answering this question will forever alter our understanding of life in the universe. 

Last year, the ESA launched the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer which will conduct two flybys of Europa during its main mission to Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. And yesterday, NASA launched Europa Clipper, a mission dedicated entirely to studying Europa. 

Europa Clipper is a special mission, and work on it has been done for a quarter of a century. It’s NASA’s biggest planetary spacecraft so far, equipped with all sorts of instruments to investigate Europa’s surface—and what lies below. 

After yesterday’s launch—in a Falcon Heavy fully expended configuration to give Europa Clipper the boost it needs to reach Jupiter—the spacecraft will use gravity assists from both Mars and Earth in 2025 and 2026, respectively, before reaching the gas giant’s moon in 2030. 

Once it’s there, Europa Clipper will take a detailed look at the moon. 

Visualization of Europa Clipper with Europa and Jupiter in the background; Source: NASA JPL

But the question remains: could Europa really be habitable just because it has an ocean? One thing is clear—the goal of Europa Clipper isn’t to find life, but rather to establish whether or not it could be habitable. 

Learning more about its potential habitability will open more possibilities for other ocean worlds in the Solar System; like Callisto, Enceladus, Triton, and even Titan, which is known to have a thick atmosphere and lakes of liquid methane and potentially a subsurface saltwater ocean. 

In the case of Europa, the Hubble Space Telescope found potential plumes of water vapor erupting from the icy moon. These have already been confirmed on the Saturn moon Enceladus, and scientists think that this activity could indicate that life may exist. 

Hydrothermal vents could house different types of life; here on Earth we find the evidence for that. If Europa’s ocean has an internal heating source—and being a moon it also received tidal heating through Jupiter’s gravity—life could thrive there. Thanks to Europa’s thick icy crust, this life would be protected from the harsh radiation of interplanetary space. 

Mosaic of photos taken by the Juno spacecraft; Source: Wikipedia

But what is this life scientists are looking for? As you may have guessed, they aren’t looking for huge fish with spiky teeth or other extraterrestrial aliens unlike anything we have on Earth. It would already be a massive accomplishment if scientists discover microbial life. 

Finding microbial life would teach us that life might be much more common in the universe than previously thought. 

Until we learn about Europa’s habitability, Europa Clipper will face many challenges along its way. Upon arriving at Jupiter, the spacecraft will fly through radiation from the planet’s massive magnetic field and conduct 49 flybys of Europa in total. 

Europa Clipper has a long journey ahead. And with it, à la Voyager Golden Record, it carries a campaign called Message in a Bottle that features the names of 2.6 million Earthlings, as well as a poem written by the U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. 

Part of the poem reads:

“O second moon, we, too, are made of water,
Of vast and beckoning seas.
We, too, are made of wonders, of great.
And ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds,
Of a need to call out through the dark.”

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