vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Europa's Stunning Surface – NASA's Europa Clipper
Engineers and technicians carefully lower the tall core of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft during a maneuver to position it in the High Bay 1 clean room of the Spacecraft Assembly Facility at the ...

Easy Does It: NASA's Europa Clipper is Lowered into Place

Engineers test a prototype of one of Europa Clipper’s radar antennas in 2018 on a hilltop at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

Europa Clipper REASON Radar Antenna Test JPL

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The Gantlet

Looking to Launch

More About the Mission

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Europa Clipper is seen in the 25-Foot Space Simulator at JPL in February, before the start of thermal vacuum testing. A battery of tests ensures that the NASA spacecraft can withstand the extreme hot, cold, and airless environment of space. 
NASA/JPL-Caltech

A gantlet of tests prepared the spacecraft for its challenging trip to the Jupiter system, where it will explore the icy moon Europa and its subsurface ocean.
In less than six months, NASA is set to launch Europa Clipper on a 1.6-billion-mile (2.6-billion-kilometer) voyage to Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa. From the wild vibrations of the rocket ride to the intense heat and cold of space to the punishing radiation of Jupiter, it will be a journey of extremes. The spacecraft was recently put through a series of hard-core tests at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to ensure it’s up to the challenge.
Called environmental testing, the battery of trials simulates the environment that the spacecraft will face, subjecting it to shaking, chilling, airlessness, electromagnetic fields, and more.
 

NASA’s Europa Clipper is seen being lifted into the Space Simulator at JPL in February. Thermal vacuum testing, which lasted 16 days, ensures that the spacecraft will withstand the harsh conditions of space.
Ice Rafting on Europa – NASA's Europa Clipper
Ice Rafting on Europa – NASA's Europa Clipper

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Ice Rafting on Europa

Source:

NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Published:

January 8, 2019

View of a small region of the thin, disrupted, ice crust in the Conamara region of Jupiter's moon Europa showing the interplay of surface color with ice structures. The white and blue colors outline areas that have been blanketed by a fine dust of ice particles ejected at the time of formation of the large (16 miles or 26 kilometer in diameter) crater Pwyll some 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) to the south. A few small craters of less than 547 yards (500 meters) in diameter can be seen associated with these regions. These were probably formed, at the same time as the blanketing occurred, by large, intact, blocks of ice thrown up in the impact explosion that formed Pwyll. The unblanketed surface has a reddish brown color that has been painted by mineral contaminants carried and spread by water vapor released from below the crust when it was disrupted. The original color of the icy surface was probably a deep blue color seen in large areas elsewhere on the moon. The colors in this picture have been enhanced for visibility.
North is to the top of the picture and the sun illuminates the surface from the right. The image, centered at 9 degrees north latitude and 274 degrees west longitude, covers an area approximately 44 by 19 miles (70 by 30 kilometers), and combines data taken by the Solid State Imaging (CCD) system on NASA's Galileo spacecraft during three of its orbits through the Jovian system.
Low resolution color (violet, green, and infrared) data acquired in September 1996, were combined with medium resolution images from December 1996, to produce synthetic color images. These were then combined with a high resolution mosaic of images acquired on Feb. 20th, 1997 at a resolution of 59 yards (54 meters) per picture element and at a range of 3,320 miles (5,340 kilometers).

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Europa's Interior May Be Hot Enough to Fuel Seafloor Volcanoes – NASA's Europa Clipper
Underwater volcanoes, if present, could power hydrothermal systems like those that fuel life at the bottom of Earth’s oceans. On Earth, when seawater comes into contact with hot magma, the interaction results in chemical energy. And it is chemical energy from these hydrothermal systems, rather than sunlight, that helps support life deep in our own oceans.
Volcanic activity on Europa’s seafloor would be one way to support a potential habitable environment in Europa’s ocean.
“Our findings provide additional evidence that Europa’s subsurface ocean may be an environment suitable for the emergence of life,” Běhounková said. “Europa is one of the rare planetary bodies that might have maintained volcanic activity over billions of years, and possibly the only one beyond Earth that has large water reservoirs and a long-lived source of energy.”
Direct Observations
NASA scientists will have the opportunity to put the new predictions to the test when Europa Clipper reaches its target in 2030. Europa Clipper will orbit Jupiter and perform dozens of close flybys of Europa to map the moon and investigate its composition. Among the science data it collects, the spacecraft will survey the surface in detail and sample the moon’s thin atmosphere.
The surface and atmosphere observations will give scientists a chance to learn more about the moon’s interior ocean if the water percolates up through the icy crust. Scientists believe the exchange of material between the ocean and the crust would leave traces of seawater on the surface. They also believe the exchange may emit gas, and possibly even plumes of water vapor, with ejected particles that could contain materials coming from the seafloor.
As Europa Clipper measures the moon’s gravity and magnetic field, anomalies in those areas, especially toward the poles, could help confirm the volcanic activity predicted by the new research.
“The prospect for a hot, rocky interior, and volcanoes on Europa’s seafloor, increases the chance that Europa’s ocean could be a habitable environment,” said Robert Pappalardo, Europa Clipper project scientist. “We may be able to test this with Europa Clipper’s planned gravity and compositional measurements, which is an exciting prospect.”
More About the Mission
Educator Guide: Spacecraft Materials and the Chemistry of Space Exploration | NASA/JPL Edu
This is an opportunity to discuss and clarify that rust is iron oxide, which is not present in our chemical reaction.Background NASA’s Europa Clipper, depicted in this illustration, will carry a broad suite of instruments into orbit around Jupiter and conduct multiple close flybys of Europa to gather information on its atmosphere, surface, and interior. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | + Expand image This artist rendering illustrates a conceptual design for a potential future mission that would land a robotic probe on the surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa. A Europa lander would need to withstand radiation, frigid temperatures, ice and potentially mist from possible plumes jetting from the moon's surface. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Learn more about this image Venus' forbidding atmosphere has claimed numerous landers over the years. With temperatures of more than 842 degrees Fahrenheit (450 degrees Celsius), sulfuric acid clouds and crushing surface pressures, electronics won't last longer than a few hours in all but the most robust spacecraft. This spacecraft proposed to NASA in 2016 by Jonathan Sauder of JPL gets rid of the electronics altogether. Image credit: ESA/J. Whatmore/NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Learn more about this image The chemistry at play here can be summed up with the metal activity series, from most reactive to least reactive. A metal high on the list will react with any metal below it. For example, a satellite made of iron would be vulnerable to acid (hydrogen), but a satellite made of copper would be resistant. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech | › Download this image When we think about sending a spacecraft to another planet or into space, we ask questions like, “What will it look for?” or “How can we get it to its destination?” But when was the last time we asked, “What will it be made of?” This question is extremely important, as the material we choose needs to be suitable for the mission’s goals and locations.
Overview | Why Europa – 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

How will Europa Clipper see through Europa's thick ice shell to study the moon's ocean?

Mission Dispatch: Using Radar to Study Earth and Europa

Parallel ice ridges, a common feature on Jupiter’s moon Europa, are also found on Greenland’s ice sheet.

Greenland Ice, Jupiter Moon Share Similar Feature

Jupiter’s moon Europa and its global ocean may currently have conditions suitable for life. Scientists are studying processes on the icy surface as they prepare to explore.

Surface of Jupiter's Moon Europa Churned by Small Impacts

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. 

Europa: A World of Ice, With Potential for Life

Jupiter’s moon Europa has an icy crust covering a vast, global ocean. The rocky layer underneath may be hot enough to melt, leading to undersea volcanoes.

Europa's Interior May Be Hot Enough to Fuel Seafloor Volcanoes

Scientists have theorized on the origin of the water plumes possibly erupting from Jupiter's moon Europa. Recent research adds a new potential source to the mix.

Potential Plumes on Europa Could Come From Water in the Crust

New lab experiments re-create the environment of Europa and find that the icy moon shines, even on its nightside. The effect is more than just a cool visual.

Europa Glows: Radiation Does a Bright Number on Jupiter's Moon

The surface of Jupiter's moon Europa features a widely varied landscape, including ridges, bands, small rounded domes and disrupted spaces that geologists call "chaos terrain." Three newly reprocessed images, taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s, reveal details in diverse surface features on Europa.
Europa's Interior May Be Hot Enough to Fuel Seafloor Volcanoes – NASA's Europa Clipper
A full-scale prototype antenna, which at 10 feet tall is the same height as a standard basketball hoop, is in the Experimental Test Range (ETR) at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

Europa Clipper High Gain Antenna Undergoes Testing at Langley

Students and families can meet a Mars rover, take a virtual tour through our solar system and explore alien worlds with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the Clippers SciFest SoCal.

Catch NASA's JPL at the Clippers SciFest This Weekend

NASA has decided to replace the current magnetometer on the upcoming Europa Clipper mission with a less complex instrument. 

NASA Seeks New Options for Science Instrument on Europa Clipper

New comprehensive mapping of the radiation pummeling Jupiter’s icy moon Europa reveals where scientists should look -- and how deep they’ll have to go -- when searching for signs of habitability and biosignatures.

Radiation Maps of Europa: Key to Future Missions

New animation shows how “bands” and “grooves” in the icy surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa could transport subsurface water to the moon’s surface. 

Europa's Ocean Ascending

Scientists re-examining data from an old mission bring new insights to the tantalizing question of whether Jupiter’s moon Europa has the ingredients to support life.

Old Data Reveal New Evidence of Europa Plumes

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.

NASA Hosts Live Discussion about Europa Findings, Potential for Life

The Europa Clipper project team continues to grow as we move into more detailed design of the equipment, and it is gratifying to see such a geographically distributed team work well together. 

The Sextant: Europa Clipper Newsletter

This color-enhanced image of Jupiter and two of its largest moons – Io and Europa – was captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft as it performed its eighth flyby of the gas giant planet.

Juno Observes Jupiter, Io and Europa
PIMS | Instruments – NASA's Europa Clipper
On the Path Towards Unprecedented Science

The surface of Jupiter's moon Europa features a widely varied landscape, including ridges, bands, small rounded domes and disrupted spaces that geologists call "chaos terrain." Three newly reprocessed images, taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s, reveal details in diverse surface features on Europa.

Newly Reprocessed Images of Europa Show 'Chaos Terrain' in Crisp Detail

Stay Connected

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Overview

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Meet Europa Clipper

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Assembly

Vault Plate

Why Europa

Overview

Europa Up Close

Ingredients for Life

Evidence for an Ocean

News

Latest News

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Managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
for
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.

NASA Official/Program Executive: 
Dave Lavery

NASA Official/Program Scientist: 
Curt Niebur

Media Contact: 
Gretchen McCartney

Public Engagement Manager: 
Heather Doyle

Public Engagement Lead: 
Laurance Fauconnet

Social Media Lead: 
Bill Dunford

Science Writer: 
Sandy Marshall

Science Writer: 
Amanda Barnett
Juno - NASA Science
The self-destruct maneuver would have satisfied NASA’s planetary protection requirements, avoiding any chance Juno could crash into the Jovian moons Europa, Ganymede, or Callisto – ocean worlds, with Europa in particular considered a prime candidate in the search for life beyond Earth – and contaminate them with microscopic life from Earth.  The Cassini mission, orbiting Saturn from 2004 to 2017, prompted similar concerns – protecting the integrity of Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Titan, also believed to contain possibly habitable environments. As a grand finale, the mission team plunged Cassini through the rings and into Saturn, collecting science until the end. The same fate befell NASA’s Galileo orbiter – Juno’s predecessor to Jupiter from 1995-2003, and the mission that discovered the possibility of a subsurface ocean on Europa. That hardy spacecraft endured more than four times its designed radiation exposure, but was running out of fuel when placed on a collision course with Jupiter in September 2003. The possibility of life existing on Europa compelled protection for that icy moon, as well as plans for future investigations.  With Juno, however, the evolution of its flight path in the extended mission meant that it no longer posed a risk to contaminate these ocean worlds, now beyond its reach. The spacecraft will continue its exploration of Jupiter, its ring system, and moons through September 2025. Then Juno’s orbit will degrade naturally, and Jupiter’s gravity will pull the spacecraft in to be consumed in the atmosphere. Legacy and ImpactIn its extended mission, NASA’s most distant planetary orbiter continues its investigation of the solar system’s largest planet. And Juno’s work continues building on the discoveries of previous missions that visited Jupiter – Pioneer 10 and 11, and Voyager 1 and 2 in the 1970s, then the Galileo orbiter and its atmospheric probe, as well as those spacecraft who made key observations while en route to other targets (Ulysses, Cassini, and New Horizons). In turn, Juno is also preparing the way for future visitors, such as ESA’s Juice mission (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer), launched in April 2023 and scheduled to reach Jupiter in July 2031. Next to go, NASA’s Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch in October 2024, and enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030.
Europa's Stunning Surface – NASA's Europa Clipper
This color composite view combines violet, green, and infrared images of Jupiter's intriguing moon, Europa, for a view of the moon in natural color (left) and in enhanced color designed to bring ou...

Europa Global Views in Natural and Enhanced Colors

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón is writing an original poem dedicated to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission.

Poem by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón Will Ride to Europa on NASA Spacecraft

NASA hosted a Science Chat 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. 

NASA Hosts Live Science Chat about Europa Findings

Engineers inspect Europa Clipper's ultraviolet spectrograph in a cleanroom at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Engineers Inspect Ultraviolet Spectrograph

The vault plate just before being installed on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft on May 3, 2024.

Europa Clipper Vault Plate: Your Name is Here

Engineers and technicians work together to install reaction wheels on the underside of the main body of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, which is in its assembly, test, and launch operations phase...

NASA's Europa Clipper: Reaction Wheel Installation

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón is writing an original poem dedicated to NASA’s Europa Clipper mission.

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón Meets NASA JPL Director Laurie Leshin

This mosaic of Europa, the smallest Galilean satellite, was taken by Voyager 2. This face of Europa is centered at about the 300 degree meridian. 

Europa Crescent 

Students analyze simulated radar data to map surface elevations on a grid.

Classroom Activity: Mapping Alien Worlds

This mosaic of a region in the northern hemisphere of Jupiter's moon, Europa, displays many of the features which are typical on the satellite's icy surface.

Double Ridges, Dark Spots, and Smooth Icy Plains on Europa 

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
Overview | Why Europa – NASA's Europa Clipper
Learn more at NASA Astrobiology ›

Ocean WorldsOcean Worlds
Scientists describe Europa as an "ocean world" because decades of evidence from analysis of spacecraft observations strongly suggest that an ocean of liquid water is hidden beneath the moon’s surface of ice. In fact, some of Europa’s characteristics would be extremely difficult to explain if the moon does not contain a global subsurface ocean.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Europa is not the only ocean world. Two of Saturn’s moons seem to be in the same category: tiny Enceladus has a global saltwater ocean that sprays out into space as a plume of icy particles that fly hundreds of miles above its surface, and the large moon Titan is thought to have a subsurface ocean as well.
But we begin our search with a world where research has been pursued for many decades, and where the questions to ask are very well defined. So off we go to Europa!
Go father: Learn more more about Europa on the NASA Solar System exploration website ›

Related resources

ClipperAR: Europa Clipper Augmented Reality Experience

Europa Clipper: Journey to an Ocean World Poster

Europa News

A new NASA study offers an explanation of how quakes could be the source of the mysteriously smooth terrain on moons circling Jupiter and Saturn. 

Icy Moonquakes: Surface Shaking Could Trigger Landslides 

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

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
MISE | Instruments – NASA's Europa Clipper
“We’re looking for organics, which could be coming from the ocean and could indicate Europa’s habitability.”

- Diana Blaney, JPL scientist and principal investigator for MISE

Meet the Team
Meet the Team

“Europa’s surface composition is how we’ll learn most about its ocean composition,” said Serina Diniega, JPL’s investigation scientist for MISE. The MISE team also collaborates with the mission’s other science teams. They will compare, combine, and synthesize their Europa findings. “What’s powerful is each investigation brings a piece,” Diniega said. “It’s like blindfolded people touching and describing an elephant and describing what they’re touching.”

“Understanding Europa’s surface composition is most of the information we’re going to get about what’s in the ocean underneath.”

- Serina Diniega, JPL’s investigation scientist for MISE

Diana Blaney

Principal Investigator

Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Where is MISE on Clipper?

MISE highlighted in red on the Europa Clipper Spacecraft.

EIS

E-THEMIS

Europa-UVS

MISE

ECM

PIMS

Gravity/Radio Science

REASON

MASPEX

SUDA

Related News

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