The giant planet Jupiter has nearly 100 known moons, yet none have captured the interest and imagination of astronomers and space scientists quite like Europa, an ice-shrouded world that is thought to possess a vast ocean of liquid salt water. For decades, scientists have wondered whether that ocean could harbor the right conditions for life, placing Europa near the top of the list of solar system bodies to explore.
To support life as we know it. We’re constantly discovering life in places we didn’t think it existed: thermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, caves sealed off from the outside world for millions of years, trapped inside crystals, in lakes under the antarctic ice.