Europa – An exciting adventure!
We’ve done a few articles on Europa, but getting the funding to actually do the mission is still critical to getting there.
This article explains why it is important that we do that, and even more exciting is that it is looking like we might actually be getting close to the funding we need.
Finding an underground, liquid ocean with hydro thermal vents like we see on Earth could be the key to proving life exists out there … beyond our planet after all.
If asked, I hope you will support the mission by sending your senator or congressman an email or letter if they happen to not be on the “support” team.
Take a few minutes to read the below article. You won’t be disappointed …
Some members of Congress want NASA to explore Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, perhaps the solar system’s best bet to host alien life.Credit: NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk Scientists who want to explore Jupiter’s ocean-harboring moon Europa have some allies in high places.
Several influential congresspeople are among those calling for a mission to Europa, which is regarded by many scientists as the best place to search for life beyond Earth.
“We don’t need to wait to go find life in another solar system,” Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, said in July. “It’s right here in our own backyard.” [6 Most Likely Places for Alien Life in the Solar System]
‘Defining moment in our lifetime’
Culberson spoke at “The Lure of Europa,” a public meeting organized in Washington, D.C., by nonprofit group The Planetary Society.
His words came just one day after NASA scientist Kevin Hand stated at a public NASA forum that he thought humans would find life in the universe in the next two decades, and on the same day that NASA released its call for scientific instruments for a planned Europa mission.
…… Culberson called the future discovery of extraterrestrial life “the defining moment in our lifetime.” “It will define our civilization,” he said.
…… Europa is a particularly good place to hunt for potential alien life, Culberson added. Scientists think that, beneath its icy crust, Europa contains three to four times more water than Earth does, and that its seafloor may be heated by geologic activity. Radiation from Jupiter helps produce some of the chemicals required for life on the moon’s surface.
…… In 2013, the U.S. National Research Council’s Planetary Science Decadal Review issued its 10-year recommendation for planetary exploration for NASA and the National Science Foundation. The report ranked an exploration of Europa as the highest-priority mission. Past budget cuts had endangered funding for studying the Jovian moon — a problem that the representatives hope to rectify in the future
…… Congress allocated NASA $155 million over the last two years to study a possible mission to Europa, and the White House allocated $15 million toward this end in its 2015 federal budget request. NASA officials say they hope to launch a roughly $1 billion Europa mission in the mid-2020s or so.
Supporting the mission
NASA’s current plans consist of launching a probe that will do multiple flybys, as there is not yet enough data to select a safe landing site on the moon. This initial mission could help pave the way to put a probe down on Europa someday, NASA officials say.
…… “I don’t know what we’ll find there, but I know it will be amazing,” Schiff said of Europa.
“[Imagine if] we had some role, some part to play in finding life on another world and changing mankind for the better,” Culberson said. “What better legacy could we possibly leave?”
Source: Space.com article by Taylor Reed