Here's all about the Jupiter Life Hunting Adventure.

The reason why Europa’s oceans are of such great interest is that astrobiologists believe that every living thing on Earth needs water to survive. While admitting that the same is not necessary for alien life, they say that looking for life signs in water is an excellent place to start. Europa is known to have an ocean that contains more liquid water than all of Earth’s seas, lakes, and rivers combined, says ESA.  Next up is Callisto, which will host the JUICE spacecraft on 12 occasions. The spacecraft will make the highest number of flybys on this planet, as opposed to only two across Europa. Being the outermost of the four Galilean moons, Callisto experiences the least amount of Jupiter’s gravity and radiation and scientists suspect that this too has a 200km-deep ocean beneath its surface. 

Astronomers also have their eyes on Ganymede, which according to professor Michele Dougherty from the Imperial College London, is “the most exciting body in the Solar System”. The JUICE spacecraft will orbit Ganymede for eight months and will help scientists study its magnetism, Ganymede’s most exciting feature. Interestingly, the spacecraft under this mission will become the first to orbit a Moon other than the Earth’s. Another attractive feature of Ganymede is its sub-surface ocean, which is said to have more water than on Earth. It is worth noting that this Moon of Jupiter is bigger than Pluto and Mercury, making it bigger than any other moon.

(Image: Twitter/@esascience)

• Headline: Here’s all about the Jupiter Life Hunting Adventure.
• Check all news and articles from the Space news information updates.