Experts are sure that within the solar system there are bodies on which at least primitive forms of life exist. According to assumptions, some creatures can inhabit the moon of Jupiter called Europa.
Finding out the truth will soon be possible with the help of the new JUICE mission. The body of Europa is covered with ice. Whom the experts hope to see is a mystery.
According to scientists, there are large volumes of water under the glaciers of Europe, which are characterized by tidal heating processes.
Tidal heating (also known as tidal working or tidal flexing) occurs through the tidal friction processes: orbital and rotational energy is dissipated as heat in either (or both) the surface ocean or interior of a planet or satellite.
Joachim Saur of the University of Cologne is confident that Europe is a great candidate for life. The water is in contact with the silicate mantle, which ensures the leaching of minerals from the bowels into the ocean. The richer the chemical composition of the ocean, the more chances that life will arise there.
The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is an interplanetary spacecraft in development by the European Space Agency (ESA) with Airbus Defence and Space as the main contractor.
The mission will study three of Jupiter’s Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa all of which are thought to have significant bodies of liquid water beneath their surfaces, making them potentially habitable environments.
The JUICE mission will start next year and will reach Jupiter in October 2029 after five gravity assists and 88 months of travel. The spacecraft will enter orbit around Ganymede for its close up science mission, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than the moon of Earth.
Jupiter’s moons resemble more of a planet in size, atmosphere, water, etc. That is why scientists have such an interest in them.
