Announcement alert ! NASA is preparing to give us some big news show about Jupiter ’s Sun Myung Moon Europa , and it could have some major implications for the search for biography .
On Monday May 14 at 1 pm EDT ( 5 postmortem examination GMT ) , the agency will have a briefing “ to discuss the in vogue analytic thinking of Jupiter ’s lunation Europa and its position as one of the most bright place in the solar system to search for animation , ” they said in astatement .
You ’ll be able to watch it hold up at quite a few places . They are ( deep breath):NASA Television , Facebook Live , Twitch TV , Ustream , YouTube , Twitter / Periscope , and also on NASA’swebsite . you’re able to ask questions during the result by twitch # askNASA .
So what ’s it all about ? Well , the info is embargoed at the consequence , so we ca n’t reveal too much . We can severalise you now it is definitely not aliens though . Just getting that out of the way nice and early . But it is about Europa .
Europa is of great interest because , in 2022 , NASA is planning to send a mission ( giant new rocketpermitting ) to read it in point . call theEuropa Clipper , it will be place on a broad orbital cavity around Jupiter and will swoop past Europa repeatedly on 45 flybys .
It ’s thought this glacial moonlight has a hidden ocean deeply beneath the surface , so the spacecraft will strain to prove it exists and influence out some of its fine details . The mission may alsoinclude a lander .
Back in 2016 wealso learnedfrom the Hubble scope that there are in all probability plumes break open into place from this ocean , like to Saturn ’s moonEnceladus . These plumes are very utilitarian , as they provide a way to try the sea without actually burying under the ice .
“ Europahas long been a mellow anteriority for exploration because beneath its arctic crust lies a piquant , liquid water ocean , ” said NASA .
“ NASA’sEuropaClipper , targeted to launch in 2022 , will be fit out with the official document necessary to determine whether Europa possesses the ingredients necessary to stomach life as we know it . ”
So make indisputable you tune up in on Monday for what will be a very exciting announcement . Again , it is not alien life – but it could be a step in that direction .
