NASA’s Juno Mission to Jupiter Makes Groundbreaking Discovery on Moon Europa
NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter has revealed an astonishing fact about the ice-covered moon Europa – it generates a whopping 1,000 tons of oxygen every 24 hours. This amount of oxygen is estimated to be enough to sustain a million humans for a day.
Scientists used data collected by the spacecraft’s Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment instrument to measure hydrogen outgassing from Europa’s surface. The findings, published in Nature Astronomy on March 4, show that Europa produces oxygen at a rate of around 26 pounds per second.
Europa’s potential for life has long intrigued scientists, thanks to its vast internal ocean of salty water beneath its icy crust. The moon’s location in Jupiter’s radiation belts is key to this oxygen production, as ionized particles split water molecules, generating the life-sustaining gas.
NASA’s upcoming Europa Clipper mission, set to arrive at Jupiter in 2030, will delve deeper into Europa’s potential habitability. In the meantime, Juno’s focus will shift to studying Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io, with a close approach planned for April 9.
Managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and funded by the Italian Space Agency, Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers Program based at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Stay tuned for more exciting discoveries as Juno continues its exploration of the outer planets.
“Travel aficionado. Incurable bacon specialist. Tv evangelist. Wannabe internet enthusiast. Typical creator.”