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Exploring Europa: A Potentially Habitable World


June 2, 2016, noon - 12:50 p.m.
Slichter 3853

Presented By:
Bob Pappalardo
JPL

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Exploring Europa: A Potentially Habitable World

Jupiter's moon Europa may be a habitable world. Galileo spacecraft data suggest that a global ocean exists beneath its frozen ice surface. A paucity of large craters argues for a young surface and recent geological activity, and magnetometry implies that a salty ocean persists today. Europa's ocean and surface are inherently linked. Tidal deformation of the floating ice shell generates stresses that fracture and deform the surface to create ridges and bands. Dark spots, domes, and chaos are probably related to tidally driven ice convection and partial melting. Europa's activity may permit the "ingredients" necessary for life to be present within the satellite's ocean. After many years of study, NASA recently selected a highly capable suite of remote sensing and in situ instruments for a mission to explore Europa and investigate its habitability through multiple close flybys. The mission will interrogate the moon’s ice shell, ocean, composition, and geology including any current activity. This presentation will summarize both our state of knowledge about Europa and the synergistic science potential of NASA’s mission to explore Europa and investigate its habitability.