Europa
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NASA
Developing Robust Electronics That Can Withstand Harsh Conditions on Cold Planetary Bodies
A NASA-sponsored team has developed electronics that can operate reliably in the harsh radiation and temperature conditions found on distant planetary bodies like Europa, an ocean world orbiting Jupiter. Not only could this new technology enable autonomous sensors and robotic exploration of distant ocean worlds, it could also support NASA’s goal to establish human outposts on the Moon and Mars…
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NASA
Ammonia-Bearing Compounds Discovered at Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa
Description Advanced analysis of decades-old data from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft identifies ammonia-bearing compounds discovered on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa, as shown in this composite image. Zooming in on an area about 250 miles (about 400 kilometers) wide, the black-and-white mosaic to the right is composed of multiple images from Galileo’s Solid-State Imaging camera. Overlaid are representations of data…
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NASA
Europa’s Ice Shell (Artist’s Concept)
Europa’s Ice Shell (Artist’s Concept) JPEG (2.17 MB) Description This artist’s concept depicts a cutaway view showing Europa’s ice shell. It contains a shallow layer of small imperfections (cracks, pores, and voids) that extend down from the surface hundreds of feet. The icy moon of Jupiter is thought to harbor an ocean below its frozen exterior. Data used to generate…
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NASA
NASA’s Juno Measures Thickness of Europa’s Ice Shell
Results from the solar-powered spacecraft provide a new measurement of the thickness of the ice shell encasing the Jovian moon’s ocean. Data from NASA’s Juno mission has provided new insights into the thickness and subsurface structure of the icy shell encasing Jupiter’s moon Europa. Using the spacecraft’s Microwave Radiometer (MWR), mission scientists determined that the shell averages about 18 miles (29 kilometers) thick in the region observed during…
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NASA
Europa’s Stunning Surface
Downloads View All Europa Resources JPG May 28, 2025 JPEG (2.59 MB) The puzzling, fascinating surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view, made from images taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s. This is the color view of Europa from Galileo that shows the largest portion of the moon’s surface at the…
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NASA
Europa: Ocean World
Scientists think there is an ocean within Jupiter’s moon Europa. NASA-JPL astrobiologist Kevin Hand explains why scientists are so excited about the potential of this ice-covered world to answer one of humanity’s most profound questions.
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Press Releases
3-D Cilix Crater on Europa
ownloads View All Europa Resources May 29, 2025 JPEG (367.26 KB) This view of Cilix impact crater on Europa was created in 2013 using 3-D stereo images taken by NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, combined with advanced image processing techniques. The crater has a diameter of about 11 miles (18 kilometers). This image, which combines a 3-D Digital Elevation Model, or DEM,…
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NASA
Reddish Bands on Europa
Downloads View All Europa Resources TIF May 28, 2025 TIFF (1.64 MB) This colorized image of Europa is a product of clear-filter grayscale data from one orbit of NASA’s Galileo spacecraft, combined with lower-resolution color data taken on a different orbit. The blue-white terrains indicate relatively pure water ice, whereas the reddish areas contain water ice mixed with hydrated salts,…
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NASA
Source Region for Possible Europa Plumes
A map centered at the estimated source region for potential plumes from Europa. NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute Downloads View All Europa Resources Hi-res May 29, 2025 JPEG (2.71 MB) This reprojection of the official USGS Europa basemap is centered at the estimated source region for potential plumes that might have been detected using the Hubble Space Telescope. The view is centered at…
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NASA
Alien Ocean
Could a liquid water ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa have the ingredients to support life? Here’s how NASA’s mission to Europa would find out
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