Europa, whose secrets lie within
This JunoCam image of Jupiter’s moon Europa shows off the satellite’s icy shell, covered in linear fractures and ridges. Scientists believe that, beneath Europa’s ice, there is a subsurface ocean, which is a promising venue for astrobiology: the search for life beyond Earth.
In March 2024, a team of scientists determined that Europa produces about 1,000 tons of oxygen per day—enough for one million humans! Of course, there are no immediate plans to ship a city’s worth of people over to the Jovian system, but it sets the stage for some interesting research to be done by ESA’s JUICE mission, which will scrutinize the gas giant and several of its icy moons.
