WASHINGTON: The US space agency has selected nine science instruments for a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. The aim is to investigate whether the mysterious icy moon could harbour conditions suitable for life.
Europa has tantalised scientists with its enigmatic icy surface and evidence of a vast ocean.
“We have gathered amazing data from 11 flybys of the Galileo spacecraft over a decade ago and recent Hubble observations, suggesting plumes of water shooting out from the moon,” said John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s science mission directorate in Washington, DC.
The Europa mission would send a solar-powered spacecraft into a long, looping orbit around the gas giant Jupiter to perform repeated close flybys of Europa over a three-year period.
In total, the mission would perform 45 flybys at altitudes ranging from 25 km to 2,700 km.
“The payload of selected science instruments includes cameras and spectrometers to produce high-resolution images of Europa’s surface and determine its composition,” NASA said in a statement.
