Ultraviolet observations made by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in 2012 illustrate two key elements in the thin atmosphere of Jupiter's moon Europa: hydrogen and oxygen. A white circle indicates the outline of Europa. The hydrogen data could potentially be evidence of an active plume venting water from the ocean beneath Europa's icy crust. If plumes do exist at the Jovian moon, the ultraviolet spectrograph on NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft (Europa-UVS) could detect their activity at much higher resolution.

Europa Clipper's three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon's icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with APL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.

NASA's Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.

Find more information about Europa here:

europa.nasa.gov