Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Life on Europa could exist clustered around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, or below the ocean floor, where endoliths are known to inhabit on Earth. Alternatively, it could exist clinging to the lower surface of Europa's ice layer, much like algae and bacteria in Earth's polar regions, or float freely in Europa's ocean. [ 188 ]
Even if there is no life on Europa, ... The spacecraft must travel 1.8 billion miles to get to Jupiter, getting a boost from Mars' gravity along the way. It's scheduled to arrive in April 2030.
Europa, whose diameter of roughly 1,940 miles (3,100 km) is approximately 90% that of our moon, has been viewed as a potential habitat for life beyond Earth in our solar system.
Planetary habitability in the Solar System is the study that searches the possible existence of past or present extraterrestrial life in those celestial bodies. As exoplanets are too far away and can only be studied by indirect means, the celestial bodies in the Solar System allow for a much more detailed study: direct telescope observation, space probes, rovers and even human spaceflight.
Coverage of the launch is expected to begin at 11 a.m. ET and will be added to this story in the video player above. The launch window itself is set to open at 12:06 p.m. ET.
Conceivably, if life exists (or existed) on Mars, evidence of life could be found, or is best preserved, in the subsurface, away from present-day harsh surface conditions. [57] Present-day life on Mars, or its biosignatures, could occur kilometers below the surface, or in subsurface geothermal hot spots, or it could occur a few meters below the ...
Europa Clipper, a NASA spacecraft named after the Jupiter moon it will study, could launch as soon as mid-October, beginning the journey to reveal if this suspected waterworld might support life.
Europa Clipper (previously known as Europa Multiple Flyby Mission) is a space probe developed by NASA to study Europa, a Galilean moon of Jupiter. It was launched on October 14, 2024. [ 15 ] The spacecraft will use gravity assists from Mars on March 1, 2025, [ 10 ] and Earth on December 3, 2026, [ 11 ] before arriving at Europa in April 2030 ...