Destinations: Large bodies of liquid water known as oceans, are abundant on Earth, and have existed in the distant past on Mars. Scientists have also discovered that oceans exist on Jupiter's mysterious moon Europa. Liquid water has even recently been found on the Saturnian moon Enceladus. Other ocean planets and moons may exist beyond our solar system, although only future exploration of these distant worlds will tell.

This month, we focus on Europa -- a rugged unknown icy world orbiting Jupiter, that contains a vast, deep ocean beneath its surface. Join us as we explore this mysterious ocean world. First discovered by Galileo and then visited by Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, and more recently by the Galileo spacecraft (archive), much of Europa still remains a mystery.

Missions: This month is the 40th Anniversary of the Surveyor 1: Lunar Landing and the 30th anniversary of the arrival of the Viking 1 spacecraft at Mars. Cassini-Huygens also celebrates its second anniversary of Saturn Orbit Insertion (SOI) on June 30th.

Features: Oceans planets or moons may eventually be found around many solar systems. In our solar system, Europa is of particular interest to explorers because of its interesting surface, and that Europa could be a common ocean world model of ice and water. Even until recently, it was thought that hydrocarbon oceans existed on Titan and possibly Europa, but now we know that Titan is surpisingly a desert moon.

Fast Lesson Finder: K-12 Activities: Search our fast lesson finder to find classroom lessons related to oceans.

People: Meet Ellis Miner : Retired space exploration veteran Ellis Miner has helped to discover the other worlds in our Solar System.