Read the Europa Missions Study 2012 Report!

Four centuries ago, Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's moons helped to forever change
our view of the universe. Today one of these moons - Europa - has the potential for
discoveries just as profound.

Europa's icy surface is thought to conceal a global ocean with more than twice the volume
of Earth's seas, and with conditions that might not be completely alien to some forms of life
on Earth. Under its frozen crust, Europa may harbor the key ingredients required to create
a habitable environment.

Its potential to teach us about places where life could exist makes exploring the mysteries of
Europa's ice one of the greatest adventures of our time. Since many gas giant planets across the
cosmos are thought likely to possess similar collections of icy moons, what we learn from Europa, its parent
planet Jupiter and its sibling satellites could have vast implications for our understanding of that greatest of questions:

Are we alone?