Probe to map Jupiter’s moons

Probe to map Jupiter’s moons

Associated Press

Sunday, December 14, 2003

San Francisco — NASA plans to dispatch a hulking nuclear- powered spacecraft to determine whether three of Jupiter’s icy, planet-sized moons have the potential to harbor life.

The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, or Jimo, would spend monthlong stints circling the moons Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, which are believed to have vast oceans tucked beneath thick covers of ice.

The unmanned craft, far larger and more powerful than any other sent to explore the outer solar system, would spend years studying the moons’ makeup, geologic history and potential for sustaining life, as well as Jupiter itself.

Besides water, the moons appear to contain two other ingredients necessary for life: energy and the right chemicals. Along with Mars, they are considered the most likely places to have extraterrestrial life within our solar system.

“We don’t know if life is there. But this mission will allow (us) to ask that question with some pretty sound tools,” said Christopher McKay of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Ames Research Center.

Jimo won’t launch until at least 2011.