1
00:00:01,434 --> 00:00:03,570
- Jupiter has three
moons with oceans

2
00:00:03,603 --> 00:00:05,672
underneath their icy shells.

3
00:00:05,705 --> 00:00:10,043
They're called Ganymede,
Callisto, and Europa.

4
00:00:10,076 --> 00:00:12,412
Earthlings have been
curious about these moons

5
00:00:12,445 --> 00:00:16,049
and their potential to
house life for a long time.

6
00:00:16,082 --> 00:00:21,087
NASA first sent probes in part
to get a closer look in 1977.

7
00:00:21,121 --> 00:00:22,856
Jupiter is a gas giant.

8
00:00:22,889 --> 00:00:25,025
That means it doesn't
have a surface.

9
00:00:25,058 --> 00:00:28,094
It's a swirl of gases that
condense into a smoldering

10
00:00:28,128 --> 00:00:30,130
ocean of hydrogen at its core.

11
00:00:30,163 --> 00:00:32,365
It's very similar to
our sun in this way.

12
00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:36,202
But unlike the sun, it doesn't
fuse hydrogen atoms into helium

13
00:00:36,236 --> 00:00:38,671
to create energy and heat.

14
00:00:38,705 --> 00:00:41,307
Now, back to those
first NASA probes.

15
00:00:41,341 --> 00:00:45,378
They observed long lines and
dark spots on the moon Europa.

16
00:00:45,412 --> 00:00:47,781
Typically, moons have
cratered surfaces.

17
00:00:47,814 --> 00:00:49,582
But these images
tipped scientists

18
00:00:49,616 --> 00:00:53,920
off that there might be an ocean
beneath Europa's icy exterior.

19
00:00:53,953 --> 00:00:57,824
In 1996, that theory was
confirmed when the Galileo

20
00:00:57,857 --> 00:00:59,659
spacecraft reached Europa.

21
00:00:59,692 --> 00:01:02,796
It was the first ocean
discovered on another planet.

22
00:01:02,829 --> 00:01:06,699
Then in 2012 and 2016,
the Hubble Space Telescope

23
00:01:06,733 --> 00:01:09,636
showed water plumes erupting
from the warmest parts

24
00:01:09,669 --> 00:01:10,637
of Europa.

25
00:01:10,670 --> 00:01:13,206
Scientists don't know
much about the plumes.

26
00:01:13,239 --> 00:01:16,242
But if Europa has water
and elements like carbon

27
00:01:16,276 --> 00:01:20,080
and hydrogen, it could mean
that microbial life once formed

28
00:01:20,113 --> 00:01:24,150
there or even still exists.

29
00:01:24,184 --> 00:01:27,821
Armed with that possibility, the
European Space Agency and NASA

30
00:01:27,854 --> 00:01:30,323
are sending probes deep
into our solar system

31
00:01:30,356 --> 00:01:33,259
to look specifically
at Jupiter's icy moons.

32
00:01:33,293 --> 00:01:36,729
First is the Jupiter Icy
Moons Explorer, or Juice,

33
00:01:36,763 --> 00:01:37,931
from the ESA.

34
00:01:37,964 --> 00:01:40,567
Juice is traveling to
the Jupiter system armed

35
00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,670
with the latest technology
to take photos, observe

36
00:01:43,703 --> 00:01:45,905
the magnetic field
of Jupiter, and take

37
00:01:45,939 --> 00:01:48,141
readings of what is
beneath the icy crusts

38
00:01:48,174 --> 00:01:50,110
of Jupiter's large moons.

39
00:01:50,143 --> 00:01:52,545
Later, NASA will send
the Europa Clipper

40
00:01:52,579 --> 00:01:57,517
to fly by its namesake over 40
times to sniff its atmosphere.

41
00:01:57,550 --> 00:02:01,187
It will gather material from
the plumes for the first time.

42
00:02:01,221 --> 00:02:04,557
And that will give scientists
a better idea if Europa's

43
00:02:04,591 --> 00:02:07,060
oceans could support life.

44
00:02:07,093 --> 00:02:08,461
The missions will gather data.

45
00:02:08,495 --> 00:02:10,430
They will also aim
to gather insights

46
00:02:10,463 --> 00:02:13,500
into fundamental questions
about our universe.

47
00:02:13,533 --> 00:02:15,568
Is there life beyond Earth?

48
00:02:15,602 --> 00:02:17,637
What might that look like?

49
00:02:17,670 --> 00:02:22,208
And what does that mean
for the future of humanity?