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What You Need to Know About Europa

Source: NASA
Published: February 6, 2024

Deep beneath the crust of Jupiter’s frozen moon Europa lies a massive liquid water ocean. Exploring this ocean world with our Europa Clipper spacecraft could provide new clues in our search for life beyond Earth. Scheduled to launch in October 2024, Europa Clipper’s main science goal is to determine whether there are places below the icy moon’s surface that could be habitable.

Learn more about Europa Clipper: https://europa.nasa.gov/

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This animation segment shows the deployment of NASA’s Europa Clipper solar arrays after launch.
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An animation showing Europa Clipper's solar arrays extend from a folded position on each side of the spacecraft, to be fully extended. When fully extended, the spacecraft is approximately as wide as a basketball court.
Mission Animation: Solar Arrays Deployment
The animation reveals how the Europa Clipper spacecraft’s own magnetic sources distort the ambient magnetic field near Europa.
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animation of the complex magnetic fields of the Europa Clipper spacecraft
Europa Clipper Spacecraft Distortion of the Ambient Magnetic Field
This simulation shows possible spectroscopy results of Europa’s water plumes, obtained using the Webb telescope’s NIRSpec instrument.
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Possible spectroscopy results of Europa’s water plumes
Possible Spectroscopy Results of Europa Using Webb
Artist’s illustration of Jupiter and Europa (in the foreground) with the Galileo spacecraft after its pass through a plume erupting from Europa’s surface.
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Artist’s illustration of Jupiter and Europa (in the foreground) with the Galileo .
Europa Scene: Plume, Galileo, Magnetic Field
Animation sequences showing NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft leaving Earth, deploying in space, journeying to the Jupiter system, and performing multiple flybys of Europa. 
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Animation sequences showing NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft mission leaving Earth, deploying in space, journeying to the Jupiter system, and performing multiple flybys of the moon Europa.
Europa Clipper Mission Animations
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
This animation segment shows deployment of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft after launch.
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An animation showing the Europa Clipper spacecraft deploying from the rocket used to launch it from Earth.
Mission Animation: Deployment
The high gain antenna is visible moving into the test area at NASA's Langley Research Center. 
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The high gain antenna is attached to mechanical supports and then lifted into position in a large room for testing.
High Gain Antenna Testing Time Lapse
This animation shows NASA’s Europa Clipper during a flyby of Europa. 
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This animation shows NASA’s Europa Clipper during a flyby of Europa.
Mission Animation: Europa Flyby
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón makes her first visit to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
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Poet Ada Limón is given a tour of JPL where Europa Clipper is under construction. She sees the spacecraft for the first time.
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón Visits NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
Jupiter's Europa harbors an ocean twice the size of all Earth's oceans combined.
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Infographic comparing Europa and Earth.
Europa: Water World Infographic
This animation segment shows NASA’s Europa Clipper arriving at the Jovian system. 
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This animation segment shows NASA’s Europa Clipper arriving at the Jovian system.
Mission Animation: Arrival to Europa
Jupiter's moon Europa may have an ocean more than twice the size of Earth's oceans combined. Why do scientists think so? Find out in 60 seconds.
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Animated cartoon describing in simple terms why we think Europa has a global ocean under an icy crust.
Space Shorts: Could Jupiter's Moon Europa Have an Ocean?
In this movie Europa is seen in a cutaway view through two cycles of its 3.5 day orbit about the giant planet Jupiter.
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An illustration in color of Europa's inner core.
Europa Tide Movie
This image of Jupiter's icy satellite Europa shows surface features such as domes and ridges, as well as a region of disrupted terrain including crustal plates which are thought to have broken apar...
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color view of complex terrain on an icy surface
Europa "Ice Rafts" in Local and Color Context
Everywhere there’s water on Earth, there’s life. Does that hold true elsewhere in our solar system?
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Video describing the science of the Europa Clipper mission.
Why Does NASA Want to Explore Jupiter's Ocean Moon?
This animation segment shows the deployment of NASA’s Europa Clipper ECM boom after launch.
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This animation shows a boom expanding from the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
Mission Animation: ECM Boom Deployment (Close)
This video shows a test deployment of Europa Clipper’s very high frequency (VHF) radar antenna.
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video of a test deployment of Europa Clipper’s very high frequency (VHF) radar antenna
Europa Clipper REASON VHF Radar Antenna Deployment
This animation segment shows the deployment of NASA’s Europa Clipper ECM boom after launch.
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An animation showing the deployment of a boom from the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
Mission Animation: ECM Boom Deployment (Close)
Join team members from NASA’s Europa Clipper mission in a clean room at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to learn about testing of the spacecraft’s magnetometer.
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Video giving an update on Europa Clipper's magnetometer.
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New research suggests Europa may have had (and perhaps still has) seafloor volcanoes.
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New research suggests Europa may have had (and perhaps still has) seafloor volcanoes.
Europa: Potential Volcanoes on the Seafloor
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A person is seen holding two wires, one in each hand, and they are putting the wires into a clear plastic cup filled with water.
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When it launches in October, NASA's Europa Clipper will carry a richly layered dispatch that includes more than 2.6 million names submitted by the public.
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Video explaining Europa Clipper's special vault plate design.
NASA's Design for Message Heading to Jupiter's Moon Europa
This animation shows NASA’s Europa Clipper during a flyby of Europa. 
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This animation shows NASA’s Europa Clipper during a flyby of Europa.
Mission Animation: Europa Flyby
Explore icy moons, like Jupiter’s moon Europa, with Olympic figure skaters Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker! Trina Ray, an astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a member of the Europ...
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Two figure skaters stand on an ice rink, and ask a JPL astronomer questions about Jupiter's icy moon Europa.
Olympic Figure Skaters Explore the Icy Moon Europa with NASA