There aren’t a whole lot of places in our solar system we believe life could survive, but a couple of the ones high on the list are some of Jupiter’s moons. It was discovered way back in 1995 that Europa, Callisto and Ganymede all had liquid water under their crusts. And they seem to be salty with other carbonates as well, meaning they’re mineral laden and could support life.
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00:00There aren't a whole lot of places in our solar system we believe life could survive,
00:07but a couple of the ones high on the list are some of Jupiter's moons.
00:11It was discovered way back in 1995 that Europa, Callisto and Ganymede all had liquid water
00:16under their crusts, and they seem to be salty with other carbonates as well, meaning they're
00:20mineral laden and could support life.
00:22And now the European Space Agency has announced a massive project to make it to one of these
00:26moons in the next decade.
00:28They're calling the mission JUICE, or the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, and it's launching
00:32this month.
00:33The mission will have a probe travel to the Jovian system, or the mini solar system with
00:37Jupiter at its center.
00:38The probe won't get there until 2031, but they're hoping to get as much information
00:42as they can about Ganymede.
00:44Ganymede has long been one of the places experts say is the best to start looking for life.
00:48That's because it has a magnetosphere, or the protective magnetic field that shields
00:51it from cosmic radiation.
00:53All in all, the probe will be looking at four of Jupiter's moons, all while contending with
00:57temperatures ranging from 482 all the way down to minus 418 degrees Fahrenheit.
01:03And the probe's instruments are all cutting edge as well, with experts saying they are
01:0610,000 times more accurate than the ones Galileo had when it reached Jupiter 30 years ago.