Juice flies by Europa

Juice will make two flybys of distinctly grooved Europa in the early 2030s, approaching as close as 400 km. During these close encounters, Juice will characterise the composition and chemistry of Europa’s surface, hunting for substances that are essential to support life (‘biosignatures’). Scientists have found strong evidence that Europa has an ocean of liquid water under its icy shell, and the moon may vent water vapour to space via ‘plumes’ and geysers. Juice will search for pockets of water in the moon’s shallow subsurface using unprecedented ice-penetrating radar, and reveal locations where the transfer of material between subsurface, surface and space may be especially intense.