vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Europa-UVS | Instruments – NASA's Europa Clipper
Members of the media put on “bunny suits” on April 11, 2024, to see Europa Clipper up close at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Media Get Close-Up of NASA's Jupiter-Bound Europa Clipper

We're thrilled to announce that NASA's 'Message in a Bottle' campaign has been nominated for a #Webby Award! We need your help to win! Cast your vote for our nomination.

Vote for Us! 'Message in a Bottle' Nominated for a Webby

When it launches in October, NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft will carry a richly layered dispatch that includes more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public.

NASA Unveils Design for Message Heading to Jupiter's Moon Europa

The addition of a high-gain antenna will enable the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft – set to launch in October 2024 – to communicate with mission controllers hundreds of millions of miles away.

NASA's Europa Probe Gets a Hotline to Earth

The Europa Clipper magnetometer has completed its rigorous testing and calibration at JPL and is ready for integration onto the Europa Clipper spacecraft.

Europa Clipper's Magnetometer Testing is Complete, Ready for Integration

The short videos take audiences behind the scenes to learn more about how space missions come together.

New Video Series Captures Team Working on NASA's Europa Clipper

La poetisa laureada estadounidense Ada Limón, conocida por su trabajo que explora la conexión humana con el mundo natural, está escribiendo un nuevo poema dedicado a la misión Europa Clipper de la NASA.

Una voz entre las estrellas: Poema de la poetisa laureada estadounidense Ada Limón viajará a Europa en una nave espacial de la NASA

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, who is known for work that explores the human connection to the natural world, is crafting a new poem dedicated to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission.

A Voice Among the Stars: Poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón Will Ride to Europa on NASA Spacecraft
Todos los instrumentos científicos están a bordo para la misión Europa Clipper - NASA Ciencia
Una vez que estén totalmente finalizadas las pruebas con Europa Clipper, el equipo enviará la nave al centro Kennedy en preparación para su lanzamiento a bordo de un cohete Falcon Heavy de SpaceX.Más acerca de la misiónEl principal objetivo científico de Europa Clipper es determinar si hay lugares debajo de la luna helada de Júpiter, Europa, que podrían albergar vida. Los tres objetivos científicos principales de la misión son determinar el espesor de la capa de hielo de la luna y las interacciones de su superficie con el océano que se encuentra debajo, investigar su composición y caracterizar su geología. La detallada exploración de Europa llevada a cabo por esta misión ayudará a los científicos a comprender mejor el potencial astrobiológico de los mundos habitables más allá de nuestro planeta.Encuentra más información (en inglés) sobre Europa aquí:europa.nasa.govRead this story in English here.ComparteDetallesÚltima ActualizaciónFeb 02, 2024EditorEquipo de redacción de Ciencia Términos relacionadosSistema solarReturn to topThe National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery.About NASA's MissionJoin UsHomeNews & EventsMultimediaNASA+MissionsHumans in SpaceEarth & ClimateThe Solar SystemThe UniverseScienceAeronauticsTechnologyLearning ResourcesAbout NASANASA en EspañolFollow NASAMore NASA Social AccountsNASA NewslettersSitemapFor MediaPrivacy PolicyFOIANo FEAR ActOffice of the IGBudget & Annual ReportsAgency Financial ReportsContact NASAAccessibilityPage Last Updated:4 months agoPage Editor:SMD Content EditorsResponsible NASA Official for Ciencia:Dana Bolles
History | Mission – NASA's Europa Clipper
History | Mission – NASA's Europa Clipper

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Six robotic spacecraft have explored Europa, but most of what we know comes from three of them: NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft, the Galileo orbiter and the Hubble Space Telescope. The Voyager 2 spacecraft provided the first images close enough to reveal that Europa's surface is crossed by ridges and cracks, and hinted that Europa might be geologically active today. The Galileo mission provided even closer views of the icy moon and found the strongest evidence of an ocean there. Galileo made 12 close passes of Europa, providing the most detailed surface images to date.

Hubble Space Telescope captured a rare look at three of Jupiter's largest moons parading across Jupiter in 2015. Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

In 2018, scientists revisited old Galileo data and found evidence Europa may be venting plumes of water vapor into space. The Hubble Space Telescope has also found intriguing evidence of plumes at Europa. Hubble, a powerful Earth-orbiting space telescope studying far off destinations, made its first detection of possible plumes at Europa in 2012.
NASA’s Pioneer 10 and 11 spacecraft passed through the Jovian system in the early 1970s, providing only distant images of Europa. But they were still the first images of Europa taken by a spacecraft, and they helped scientists refine calculations of Europa’s size and mass.
In 1979, the twin Voyager spacecraft flew through the Jovian system, mapping the surfaces of the Galilean moons and providing more precise measurements of the moons’ sizes. Of the Galilean moons, Europa was the most poorly observed because of where it was in its orbit during the Voyager flybys. Still, images from Voyager 2 revealed a smooth surface marked with fracture-like linear features, fuzzy-looking “mottled terrain” and relatively few craters, suggesting that something was resurfacing Europa’s icy crust.
Assembly | Spacecraft – NASA's Europa Clipper
Hardware Development

Europa Clipper’s hardware is developed across the United States and Europe.

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STEP 2

Hardware Arrival

STEP 2

Hardware Arrival

Instruments and other spacecraft hardware arrive from across the country.

more

STEP 3

Spacecraft Assembly

STEP 3

Spacecraft Assembly

Now Europa Clipper begins to take shape.

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STEP 4

Environmental Testing

STEP 4

Environmental Testing

To reach Europa, the spacecraft must survive liftoff, the vacuum of space, the unfiltered heat of the Sun, and other hazards.

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STEP 5

Final Checkouts & Shipment to Launch Site

STEP 5

Final Checkouts & Shipment to Launch Site

After environmental tests, Europa Clipper will be brought back to its assembly facilities for a thorough checkout.

more

STEP 6

Launch

STEP 6

Launch

Europa Clipper will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

more

STEP 1

Hardware Development

Europa Clipper’s hardware is developed across the United States and Europe.

more

STEP 2

Hardware Arrival

Instruments and other spacecraft hardware arrive from across the country.

more

STEP 3

Spacecraft Assembly

Now Europa Clipper begins to take shape.

more

STEP 4

Environmental Testing

To reach Europa, the spacecraft must survive liftoff, the vacuum of space, the unfiltered heat of the Sun, and other hazards.

more

STEP 5

Final Checkouts & Shipment to Launch Site

After environmental tests, Europa Clipper will be brought back to its assembly facilities for a thorough checkout.

more

STEP 6

Launch

Europa Clipper will launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

more

Step 1: Hardware DevelopmentStep 1: Hardware Development

Hardware for Europa Clipper is developed at JPL and at partner institutions and contractor facilities across the United States and Europe. This includes the nine science instruments and other spacecraft components, such as the propulsion module, radio frequency module, solar arrays, star trackers, electronics vault, and more. The instruments and components are developed, tested, and prepared for shipping to JPL.
ClipperAR: Europa Clipper Augmented Reality Experience – NASA's Europa Clipper
This image of Europa, an icy satellite of Jupiter about the size of the Earth's Moon, was obtained from a range of 7,415 miles (11,933 kilometers) by the Galileo spacecraft during its fourth orbit ...

Macula on Europa 

Could a liquid water ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa have the ingredients to support life? Here's how NASA's mission to Europa would find out.

Alien Ocean

Europa Clipper’s ultraviolet spectrograph is the first science instrument installed on the spacecraft’s nadir deck.

Ultraviolet Spectrograph Integration

This view of Cilix impact crater on Europa was created in 2013 using 3-D stereo images.

3-D Cilix Crater on Europa

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft took this image of Europa hanging above Jupiter's cloud tops.

New Horizons Spies Europa

A technician prepares to attach the vault plate to NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft on May 3, 2024. 

Europa Clipper Vault Plate Lifted

One moment in an ancient, orbital dance is caught in this color picture taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 7, 2000, just as two of Jupiter's four major moons, Europa and Callisto, were near...

Europa and Callisto under the Watchful Gaze of Jupiter 

An engineer inspects the radio frequency (RF) panel of NASA’s Europa Clipper.

Inspecting Europa Clipper's RF Panel

The icy surface of Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, was photographed by the Galileo spacecraft on its fourth orbit around Jupiter. 

Flows on Europa 

Diurnal temperature color image from the first light test of Europa Clipper’s thermal imager.

Thermal Imager's First Light Color Image

A 3D model of Gravity/Radio Science, a radar & gravity instrument on Europa Clipper.

Gravity/Radio Science

A 3D model of the Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON), a radar & gravity instrument on Europa Clipper. 

REASON
Europa: A World of Ice, With Potential for Life – NASA's Europa Clipper
The planet’s climate is nearly as damaging to robotic probes as it would be to humans.

Mars is more merciful. Landing on Mars is notoriously difficult. But Mars offers a more tolerable environment than Venus for any plucky probes that reach the Martian surface intact. Generations of rovers and landers have taught us much about the Red Planet. A few billion years ago, an ocean may have covered one-fifth of the Martian surface. Indeed, scientists think Mars was once habitable. Then, over millions of years, Mars lost most of the water that was on its surface. Solar wind and radiation stripped away the Martian atmosphere. An ocean world that could have supported life is now a frigid, nearly airless desert.
But more exotic worlds farther from the Sun host vast oceans in the present day. Europa is one of those worlds.
It Matters Where We Find Life
Around most stars is a region where conditions are just right for an orbiting planet to have liquid water on its surface. That region is the star’s habitable zone or "Goldilocks zone.” But scientists have learned that worlds outside the Goldilocks zone can have liquid oceans as well, including several moons in our outer solar system.
Some moons of Saturn and Jupiter (including Europa, we suspect) are ocean worlds – they have oceans beneath their icy surfaces. In fact, finding life in one of these oceans might be more consequential than finding life on Mars. It could change how humans understand the equation for life in the cosmos.

In theory, even simple lifeforms can travel from one planet to another. A meteorite collides with a planet and ejects surface material containing microbes. The rocky chunks float through space until some collide with another planet. Life then springs forth on a new world.
If life existed on Earth and Mars, it didn’t necessarily start on both worlds. Instead, life may have evolved on one of the two planets, then traveled to the other. We know the two planets swap rocks because Mars rocks have been found on Earth.
The outer solar system is another story.
FAQ | Mission – NASA's Europa Clipper
The moon was named after Europa, the Phoenician mother of King Minos of Crete, with whom Zeus (the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter) fell in love. In addition to Earth-bound telescope observations, Europa has been examined by a succession of space-probe flybys, the first occurring in the early 1970s. Learn more about the history of discovering and exploring Europa here. 

Is Europa habitable?

Europa is considered one of the most promising currently habitable environments in our solar system. 
Europa could have all the “ingredients” needed for life as we know it. 

Water: Evidence suggests there is a global ocean over twice the volume of Earth’s oceans combined. 
Organics: Scientists believe it's likely that the essential chemical building blocks for life exist on Europa, stemming from the moon’s formation and from asteroid and comet impacts. 
Energy: Scientists believe Europa may have the chemical energy sources needed for life. This includes surface radiation from Jupiter and potential interactions between water and a rocky seafloor. 
Stability: Europa’s ocean may have existed for the entirety of our solar system’s history, approximately 4 billion years. 

Learn more about Europa’s ingredients for life here.

Does Europa have liquid water?

Below Europa’s icy surface, evidence suggests there is a global ocean over twice the volume of Earth’s oceans combined. 
Learn more about the evidence for an ocean at Europa here.

What makes scientists so certain that there’s an ocean?

Europa shows strong evidence for an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust. Images from the Voyager 2 spacecraft showed features indicating that Europa’s surface had been active in the recent past. A bright, icy surface that lacked large impact craters implied the moon’s surface was young, meaning something had erased them. The Galileo spacecraft later saw additional features that suggested activity related to water (or possibly warm ice) beneath the surface, including areas of jumbled blocks of displaced ice ("chaos terrain"), and features like spots, domes, and pits. Galileo also showed how Jupiter’s magnetic field was disrupted in the space around Europa. This measurement strongly implies that a magnetic field is being created within Europa by an electrically conductive fluid beneath the surface.
Europa: A World of Ice, With Potential for Life – NASA's Europa Clipper
Europa: A World of Ice, With Potential for Life – NASA's Europa Clipper

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| June 8, 2021

Europa: A World of Ice, With Potential for Life

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa may be the most promising place in the solar system to find present-day environments suitable for life beyond Earth.
Scientists study the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe in a scientific field called astrobiology. They’ve found that life as we know it requires three main ingredients: temperatures that allow liquid water to exist; the presence of carbon-based molecules; and an energy input, such as sunlight.
Europa seems to have all three ingredients. But to understand why it’s a uniquely captivating target for astrobiology, it helps to know a bit about a few other moons and planets in the solar system. The story starts with water.
Probing Planets’ Pasts
Almost everywhere we find water on Earth, we also find life. So water’s presence or absence is an initial way to assess a world’s habitability. As it happens, Earth’s planetary neighbors may have once been wetter.
For as long as 2 billion years, liquid water may have covered much of the surface of Venus. But today Venus is a hellscape. The planet’s atmospheric pressure would crush a human, and temperatures reach 864 degrees Fahrenheit (462 degrees Celsius). Even if evidence for life were sitting on the planet’s surface, searching for it would be challenging. The planet’s climate is nearly as damaging to robotic probes as it would be to humans.

Mars is more merciful. Landing on Mars is notoriously difficult. But Mars offers a more tolerable environment than Venus for any plucky probes that reach the Martian surface intact. Generations of rovers and landers have taught us much about the Red Planet. A few billion years ago, an ocean may have covered one-fifth of the Martian surface. Indeed, scientists think Mars was once habitable.
Europa: A World of Ice, With Potential for Life – NASA's Europa Clipper
Ganymede and Callisto also may have a seafloor layer of ice, preventing chemical nutrients from entering the moons' oceans from the rocky mantle below.
Europa's ocean, however, is close to its surface. Its ice shell is probably 10 to 15 miles (15 to 25 kilometers) thick, on average. Europa also seems likely to have present-day geologic activity that might transport surface compounds to its ocean.

In contrast to Ganymede and Callisto, Europa’s ocean is also probably in direct contact with warm rock at the seafloor. That interaction could supply hydrogen and other chemicals to the ocean. While the energy input for life on Earth comes primarily from the Sun, Europa’s energy input might come from surface chemistry and water-rock interactions on the seafloor.
Ocean worlds are found even farther from the Sun than Jupiter. At least one such world orbits Saturn, nearly twice as far from the Sun as Jupiter. Tiny Enceladus has a global saltwater ocean that sprays into space as a plume of icy particles. And enormous Titan may have a subsurface water ocean of its own. NASA has approved development of a Titan mission called Dragonfly. A rotocraft will fly in Titan’s dense atmosphere, seeking prebiotic chemical processes. Scientists have also begun proposing concepts for an Enceladus mission.
But Europa has already been studied by six spacecraft, starting about 50 years ago. Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, and the Galileo spacecraft visited the Jupiter system. The Hubble Space Telescope has also observed Europa from Earth orbit.
Additionally, the Juno spacecraft, orbiting Jupiter since 2016, will also provide insights about Europa. NASA extended the Juno mission beyond its prime mission (ending in July 2021) to continue operation through September 2025, or until the spacecraft’s end of life. The extension lets Juno explore beyond its primary science target, Jupiter, to the planet’s rings and moons. Juno now has multiple planned rendezvous with Europa, as well as Ganymede and Io.
The European Space Agency also plans to target Europa as part of the agency’s forthcoming JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission.
Europa’s Thick Dossier
NASA Hosts Live Discussion about Europa Findings, Potential for Life – NASA's Europa Clipper
NASA Hosts Live Discussion about Europa Findings, Potential for Life – NASA's Europa Clipper

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| May 11, 2018

NASA Hosts Live Discussion about Europa Findings, Potential for Life

The puzzling, fascinating surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view, made from images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. More ›

NASA will host a Science Chat at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT Monday, May 14), to discuss the latest analysis of Jupiter’s moon Europa and its status as one of the most promising places in the solar system to search for life. The event will air live on NASA Television, Facebook Live, Twitch TV, Ustream, YouTube, Twitter/Periscope and the agency's website.
Europa has long been a high priority for exploration because beneath its icy crust lies a salty, liquid water ocean. NASA’s Europa Clipper, targeted to launch in 2022, will be equipped with the instruments necessary to determine whether Europa possesses the ingredients necessary to support life as we know it.
Lori Glaze, acting director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, and JoAnna Wendel, the division’s communications lead, will host the chat. Guests include:

Xianzhe Jia, associate professor in the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Elizabeth Turtle, research scientist at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland
Margaret Kivelson, professor emerita of Space Physics in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles

The public can send questions on social media by using #AskNASA at any time during the event.
For more information about Europa Clipper, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/europa
For information about NASA’s missions, programs and activities, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov

Dwayne Brown / JoAnna Wendel
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726 / 358-1003
Ingredients for Life | Why Europa – NASA's Europa Clipper
Ingredients for Life | Why Europa – NASA's Europa Clipper

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Ingredients for Life

Evidence for an Ocean

Our planet is a beautiful water-filled world, teeming with life. But did you know that Earth is not the only world in our solar system with an ocean? Here’s what you need to know about Ocean Worlds. Credit: NASA

Life is abundant on Earth, but we haven’t yet found it anywhere else in the universe. How do we search for life beyond our home planet? Scientists say we should look for three key ingredients that make life possible: liquid water, chemistry, and energy. Also, life takes time to develop. We should look for life on worlds where sufficient time has passed for life to get started.
Jupiter’s icy moon Europa may have these essential ingredients and is as old as Earth. NASA is sending the Europa Clipper spacecraft to conduct a detailed exploration of Europa and investigate whether the icy moon, with its subsurface ocean, has the capability to support life. Understanding Europa’s habitability will help scientists better understand the potential for finding life beyond our planet and guide us in our search.

What is astrobiology?

Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe. This multidisciplinary field investigates the extremes of life on Earth to inform its search for life in the universe. It encompasses characterizing habitable environments in preparation to search for life. Learn more at NASA Astrobiology ›

Water

Water
Liquid water tops the list of ingredients for life, and Europa has lots of it. Scientists think Europa has a salty ocean beneath its icy crust with about twice as much water than all of Earth's oceans combined. Water dissolves nutrients for organisms to eat, transports important chemicals within living cells, supports metabolism, and allows those cells to get rid of waste. Scientists are confident there's a rocky seafloor at the bottom of Europa’s ocean.