Europa is one of Jupiter’s moons. It takes 85 hours to orbit Jupiter. Europa is mostly made of rocks and ice. The part that really got scientists interested is water! This water bursts out of the surface of the moon like jets of water. These eruptions release water. Scientists think that Europa may have liquid water under it’s surface. This water sometimes shoots up through the surface in eruptions. It also has a frozen sea of water on it’s surface. This water could support microbial life on Europa, but scientists do not know for sure. Scientists and researchers are working to get samples of the eruptions of water to know for sure. NASA is sending the Europa Clipper mission to Europa late 2024 to find out more about the moon’s frozen oceans.
