Aliens Hiding Inside Jupiter's Moon: Nasa's $5 Billion Mission To Find Out

Galileo Galilei discovered Europa and Jupiter's three other large moons in 1610. The discovery greatly impacted our understanding of the Universe by proving Earth was not the centre of the cosmos. More than 400 years later, Jupiter's same moon is set to illuminate us. NASA has launched one of its most ambitious missions. SpaceX's powerful Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, propelling the probe on a nearly six-year journey towards Europa. NASA's Europa Clipper mission seeks to unravel secrets beneath Europa's icy shell, where scientists believe a vast ocean may exist, potentially holding the ingredients necessary for life. The ocean might contain more than twice as much water as Earth's global ocean. Where there is water, there could be life. It's a truly fascinating thought to find life buried under a moon's surface.

This $5 billion mission represents one of humanity's best chances to answer a question that has lingered for centuries: Are we alone in the universe? Europa Clipper's main aim is to determine if Jupiter's moon has the essential elements that could make it habitable, even if it doesn't find direct evidence of life itself. In 1979 images from the iconic Voyager probes hinted at a world covered in ice, marked by reddish lines that suggest geologic activity beneath the surface. Later, NASA's Galileo mission in the 1990s found evidence of a subsurface ocean, generating more interest in its potential to harbour life.

"Congratulations to our Europa Clipper team for beginning the first journey to an ocean world beyond Earth," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "By exploring the unknown, Europa Clipper will help us better understand whether there is the potential for life not just within our solar system, but among the billions of moons and planets beyond our Sun."

It's a long journey. The spacecraft has embarked on a nearly 2.9-billion-kilometre journey. Europa Clipper is expected to reach Jupiter's icy moon by April 2030. The NASA mission would be using the same slingshot technology used by Chandrayan missions. The spacecraft would be using the gravity of Earth and Mars to generate momentum to propel it towards Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun. The spacecraft won't be making any spectacular landing on the lunar surface, but instead, it will be conducting about 50 flybys. Using sophisticated instruments, it would analyse the moon's icy crust and search for clues of habitability in the ocean below.

"Europa Clipper will undoubtedly deliver mind-blowing science. While always bittersweet to send something we've laboured over for years off on its long journey, we know this remarkable team and spacecraft will expand our knowledge of our solar system and inspire future exploration," said Laurie Leshin, director, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

The journey is long, but the real challenge will begin when the spacecraft nears Jupiter which has a powerful magnetic field, which would bombard intense radiation. NASA engineers have designed aluminium vaults to protect the instruments from the extreme environment. So, ten more years before we get to know, are we alone in the Universe?