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Alien Ocean

Could a liquid water ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa have the ingredients to support life? Here's how NASA's mission to Europa would find out.

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A 3D-printed mock-up of optical head and shielding for Europa Clipper’s stellar reference unit (or star tracker) going through contamination control and planetary protection sampling prior to enter...
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A 3D-printed mock-up of optical head and shielding for Europa Clipper’s stellar reference unit (or star tracker) going through contamination control and planetary protection sampling prior to entering a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
3D-Printed Star Tracker Mock-Up
Could a liquid water ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa have the ingredients to support life? Here's how NASA's mission to Europa would find out.
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A video using interviews and illustrations, with audio commentary.
Alien Ocean: NASA's Mission to Europa
Engineers and technicians move the vault plate into position for installation on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft on May 3, 2024.
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Two technicians in white protective clothing hold the Europa Clipper Vault Plate as they position it for installation on the spacecraft.
Placing the Europa Clipper Vault Plate
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)’s Dan Aaron (lead spectrometer technician) is making final adjustments to the electrical connections between the MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Euro...
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Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)’s Dan Aaron (lead spectrometer technician) is making final adjustments to the electrical connections between the MAss Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Europa (MASPEX) EBox and the spectrometer prior to flight model calibration.
Mass Spectrometer Assembly
An accelerometer is attached to a plasma instrument sensor assembly during a vibration test.
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An accelerometer is attached to a plasma instrument sensor assembly during a vibration test.
Plasma Instrument Vibration Testing
Engineers prepare Europa Clipper's thermal imager for a series of tests in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory following the instrument's delivery.
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Multiple engineers in white coveralls preparing the thermal imager instrument, located on a table in a clean room, for functional testing. One engineer has their hands on the instrument.
Thermal Imager Delivered to JPL
In a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, engineers handle Europa Clipper’s newly installed star trackers.
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Four engineers wearing white full-body coveralls, gloves, and masks, handle a flat metal structure a few inches thick, to which are attached two telescopes a foot or more long, while a fifth worker in identical attire stands to the side, holding hand-held controls for the crane that’s lofting the hardware.
Star Tracker Integration
Europa Clipper’s surface dust analyzer instrument is examined following delivery to JPL in September 2022.
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An engineer in a full body coverall and a fask mask is shown on the left side of the image, holding a small black flashlight the size of a pen and examining Europa Clipper’s surface dust analyzer instrument. The instrument is gold colored and about the size of a drum, resting on its side. The instrument is resting upon a silver workbench in the cleanroom.
Europa Clipper's Dust Analyzer Delivered to JPL
Deep beneath the crust of Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa lies a massive liquid water ocean. 
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Video explaining why NASA is sending a mission to Jupiter's icy moon - Europa.
What You Need to Know About Europa
The massive high-gain antenna for NASA's Europa Clipper mission is complete.
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The massive high-gain antenna for NASA's Europa Clipper mission is complete.
Standing Tall: Europa Clipper's High-Gain Antenna
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Staff Engineer Yvette Tyler performs integration and testing on the electronics box for Europa Clipper’s mass spectrometer.
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Image showing Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Staff Engineer Yvette Tyler performs integration and testing on the electronics box for Europa Clipper’s mass spectrometer. The mass spectrometer will analyze gases in Europa’s faint atmosphere and possible plumes. It will study the chemistry of the moon’s suspected subsurface ocean, how ocean and surface exchange material, and how radiation alters compounds on the moon’s surface.
Mass Spectrometer Electronics Box
A 3D model of the Vault Plate.
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A 3D model of the Vault Plate.
Vault Plate Info Panel
This animation showing a flyover of ridged plains on Europa was created using stereo imaging data obtained by NASA's Galileo spacecraft.
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A 3D black-and-white flyover of Europa's surface.
Androgeos Linea Flyover
Pwyll crater on Jupiter's moon, Europa, was photographed by the Solid State Imaging system on the Galileo spacecraft during its sixth orbit around Jupiter.
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black and white view of circular crater on icy surface
Pwyll Crater on Europa
A 3D model of Europa Clipper’s Ultraviolet Spectrograph (Europa-UVS), a spectrometry instrument on Europa Clipper.
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3D model of the europa-uvs instrument
Europa-UVS
A 3D model of the Europa Imaging System (EIS), an imager on Europa Clipper.
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3D model of the EIS instrument
EIS
We are on the cusp of exploring what may be the best place in our solar system to look for life beyond Earth.
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illustrated poster of the Europa Clipper spacecraft silhouetted above Europa with Jupiter in the background
Europa Clipper: Journey to an Ocean World Poster
A test model of the boom that will be used for the magnetometer aboard NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is readied in NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
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A test model of the boom that will be used for the magnetometer aboard NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft is readied in NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Europa Clipper Magnetometer (ECM) Boom
This animation segment shows NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft leaving Earth. 
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An animation showing the rocket carrying the Europa Clipper spacecraft leaving Earth.
Mission Animation: Launch
With its solar arrays deployed, Europa Clipper spans more than 100 feet (about 30.5 meters) – about the length of a basketball court. 
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An illustration shows the scale of the Europa Clipper spacecraft by superimposing it on a standard basketball court. The spacecraft appears to hover over the surface of the court while spectators look on. The spacecraft, with its metallic main body at the center and its two solar array wings stretched out on either side, is about the same length as the court.
Europa Clipper Compared to a Basketall Court
This high resolution image shows the ice-rich crust of Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter.
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black and white view of rough terrain on an icy surface
Europa Ice Rafts
A map centered at the estimated source region for potential plumes from Europa.
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Plumes
Source Region for Possible Europa Plumes
This mosaic of Europa, the smallest Galilean satellite, was taken by Voyager 2. This face of Europa is centered at about the 300 degree meridian. 
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crescent view of Europa in color
Europa Crescent
Technicians prepare to install the high-gain antenna on NASA’s Europa Clipper at Kennedy Space Center on June 17, 2024.
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Workers in blue overalls and white head covers guide Europa Clipper's high gain antenna as it's installed on the spacecraft.
Europa Clipper High Gain Antenna Install
This view of Cilix impact crater on Europa was created in 2013 using 3-D stereo images.
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Crater 3-D
3-D Cilix Crater on Europa