Denise Chow is a science and space reporter for NBC News.
For decades, an icy moon of Jupiter has been considered one of the most promising places to search for extraterrestrial life in the solar system. Thought to have an underground ocean and a potentially habitable environment, Europa has long seemed a tantalizing target in our cosmic backyard. Now, humanity is poised to get a closer look at Jupiter’s fourth-largest moon. As early as midday Monday, NASA plans to launch a new robotic mission to Jupiter.
” Buratti said there is strong scientific evidence that a vast ocean lurks beneath the moon’s icy surface. Europa’s internal ocean, in fact, is estimated to have twice the volume of all of Earth’s oceans combined, according to NASA. Europa Clipper is scheduled to enter Jupiter's orbit in 2030 after a six-year journey of 1.8 billion miles. It will give researchers new insights via 49 close flybys of the moon over four years.
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