Searching for signs of life on Europa

This October, NASA will launch the Europa Clipper spacecraft on its journey to Jupiter's moon Europa. This is the first mission that specifically targets the moon, whose vast, ice-covered ocean scientists have speculated may be home to some form of life. The spacecraft will conduct nearly 50 flybys, dipping as low as 25 km above Europa's surface. The instruments in Europa Clipper 's payload will capture high-resolution images of the moon and, importantly, reveal its surface chemistry without actually landing. Combined, these measurements will answer the question of Europa's habitability and inform a potential future mission to land directly on the moon's surface. When NASA's Galileo spacecraft plunged into Jupiter's swirling clouds of ammonia and water in 2003, the crash was no accident. Mission scientists had carefully calculated the craft's trajectory into the planet to avoid it colliding with Europa. Why? The data Galileo sent home suggested the moon might