Pondering Life in an Alien Ocean

Pondering Life in an Alien Ocean

No one ever said Europa Clipper would be able to detect life beneath the ice, but as we look at the first imagery from the spacecraft’s star-tracking cameras, it’s helpful to keep the scope of the mission in mind. We’re after some critical information here, such as the thickness of the ice shell, the interactions between shell and underlying ocean, the composition of that ocean. All of these should give us a better idea of whether this tiny worl…