Finally, the US space agency NASA has sent a mission to search for possibilities of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa. On Monday, its Europa Clipper mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, through SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket. More than Rs 4 billion is the cost of this mission of NASA. But what is this mission? Is this mission right for a world struggling with many problems? What benefit can the world get from this mission? Let us find answers to such questions.
What will this NASA mission do?
NASA says that under this mission, scientists will investigate the possibility of life inside the ocean 10 kilometers below the icy surface of Europe. This is NASA’s first such mission. The cost of this mission of NASA is 4 billion, 37 crores, 12 lakhs, and 50 thousand rupees. This mission is a way to investigate those questions of the search for life, whose answers have not been found from Mars till now.
Searching for signs of life:
Scientists have been searching for any kind of life and its possibilities outside the Earth for a long time. In such a situation, their priority is those areas of the solar system where there is a high possibility of favorable conditions for life. Studies so far suggest that Jupiter’s moon Europa could be such a place.
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The conditions on Europa are quite hopeful:
Sandra Connelly, the deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, says, “Scientists believe that there are conditions like water, energy, chemistry, and stability under Europa’s icy surface, which can promote life. One of the main challenges of the Europa Clipper mission is to deliver a spacecraft that can withstand the onslaught of radiation coming from Jupiter, but at the same time is sensitive enough to collect the information needed to investigate Europa’s environment.”
Why search for life?
Scientists believe that signs of life or its possibilities on Earth will answer many questions related to life on Earth. In such a situation, just finding favorable conditions for life on any planet can reveal many mysteries for them, even if life is completely absent there right now. This gives them hope that they can solve many problems on Earth at once.
Europa’s conditions are quite hopeful:
Sandra Connelly, the deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, says, “Scientists believe that there are conditions like water, energy, chemistry, and stability under Europa’s icy surface, which can promote life. One of the main challenges of the Europa Clipper mission is to deliver a spacecraft that can withstand the onslaught of radiation coming from Jupiter, but at the same time is sensitive enough to collect the information needed to investigate Europa’s environment.”
