Does Europa Have An Ocean?

Europa ’s legendary ocean has exhort science fiction movies and actual distance missions alike — and yet we are n’t even indisputable it exists . NASA has get so curious , it latterly greenlit a mission to Europa that ’ll hopefully settle the topic once and for all . And the space representation has just produced an excellent video recording explaining why we should handle .

With Pluto behind us and a novel Europa mission move full steam out front , NASA is now hoping to drum up public interestingness in the removed , ice - cross moon . The first order of occupation ? Making trusted we ’re all on the same page about Europa ’s mysterious sea diving prospects . To that end , a short NASA animation details why we think Europa could have more water than Earth .

If that ocean really does exist , it ’s poised to be the first place we discover alien lifespan . The as - yet - unknown spacecraft that ’ll find out for sure , and perhaps put an end our cosmic desolation , is slat to launch in the 2020s and get in at Europa several twelvemonth afterwards .