A £1.4bn probe could tell us if the major moons of Jupiter have the potential to support simple life.
The project is known as the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or Juice for short.
The Ariane doesn't have the energy to send Juice directly to Jupiter, certainly not within a useful timeframe. "We'll know the depth of the ocean, its salt content, how deep the crust is above the ocean, and whether the ocean is in contact with the rocky mantle," explained Prof Michele Dougherty, Imperial's magnetometer principal investigator.
These worlds may be in the cold, outer reaches of the Solar System, far from the Sun, but they could just be able to satisfy the four inputs - even for a supply of energy. It's not light and warmth from a star, but the constant gravitational squeezing and pushing the giant planets exert on the moons.
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