Proof of Life on Jupiter’s Moon Europa? NASA Is Hoping to Find Something

Jupiter’s moon Europa isa wild place. It’s an ice-covered world, however experts believe that underneath that frozen exterior is a vast ocean.

Transcript

00:00jupiter's moon europa is a wild place it's an ice-covered world however experts believe that

00:09underneath that frozen exterior is a vast liquid ocean and that's why it just might be the best

00:14place out in the solar system to look for life and that's what this mission is hoping to discover

00:19on october 14th nasa launched the europa clipper a robotic solar-powered spacecraft it will now

00:25spend the next five plus years traveling some 1.8 billion miles eventually entering an orbit around

00:31jupiter with europa in 2030. europa clipper is the largest nasa spacecraft to ever be sent to

00:36investigate a planetary body stretching 100 feet tall and 58 feet wide meaning with its solar arrays

00:42fully extended europa clipper is bigger than a basketball court the spacecraft also weighs in at

00:48around 13 000 pounds which is why they employed a spacex falcon heavy to get the whole thing off world

00:54the solar array will power nine scientific instruments specifically designed to investigate

00:58whether or not europa could potentially harbor life jupiter's massive size produces a significant

01:03gravitational pull on europa causing it to flex and deform this tidal flexing produces heat which

01:09experts say likely means a salty liquid ocean could be hiding under its frozen exterior