Jan 8, 2019 · This image reveals a cutaway view of the possible internal structure of Europa. The surface of Europa is an image obtained by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in 1996, whereas the interior characteristics of the moon are inferred from …

Europa / j ʊ ˈ r oʊ p ə / ⓘ, or Jupiter II, is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, and the sixth-closest to the planet of all the 95 known moons of Jupiter. It is also the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System.

Jan 21, 2025 · Europa Clipper is a robotic solar-powered spacecraft built to conduct the first detailed investigations of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. With its solar arrays deployed, Europa Clipper spans more than 100 feet (about 30 meters) – about the length of a basketball court.

Sep 13, 2024 · This artist's concept (not to scale) depicts what Europa's internal structure could look like: an outer shell of ice, perhaps with plumes of material venting from beneath the surface; a deep, global layer of liquid water; and a rocky interior, potentially with hydrothermal vents on …

Oct 12, 2024 · Deep down, in an ocean beneath its ice shell, Jupiter’s moon Europa might be temperate and nutrient-rich, an ideal environment for some form of life — what scientists would call “habitable.” NASA’s Europa Clipper mission aims to find out.

Jun 16, 2023 · We use one-dimensional thermal evolution models of Europa’s rock-metal interior to address three key aspects of the satellite’s internal history. First, we estimate the extent of silicate dehydration inside Europa.

The science objectives of the Europa Clipper mission include the characterization of Europa’s interior; confirmation of the presence of a subsurface ocean; identification of constraints on the depth to this ocean, and on its salinity and thickness; and determination of processes of material exchange between the surface, ice shell, and ocean.

A process called tidal flexing, which happens as Europa orbits Jupiter and is intermittently squeezed by the massive planet’s gravity, heats Europa’s interior and may cycle water and nutrients between the moon’s rocky interior, ice shell, and ocean.

Europa Clipper is designed to follow up on evidence for a subsurface ocean underneath Europa's ice crust, found using the Galileo spacecraft which orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003.

Oct 22, 2024 · Jupiter is huge and it exerts gravitational forces on the inside of Europa that heat it up. The gravity is constantly tugging and pulling and squeezing the inside of Europa, like silly putty, like just taking silly putty and squishing it back or clay and squishing it back and forth.