Europa Clipper is a NASA mission that aims to determine if one of Jupiter’s moons could harbor life. It just successfully tested its instruments during a flyby of Mars.
E-THEMIS is an infrared camera that will peek down under the icy surface of the moon Europa to see how much warm liquid water could be below.
"First and foremost, we were relieved that it actually worked, but it worked really well. It worked the way we expected it to, that with the image stacked up beautifully," said Phil Christensen, an Arizona State University professor and E-THEMIS principal investigator.
The spacecraft has to fly by Mars and Earth again before finally making it to Jupiter. It can use those planets' gravity to accelerate it and reach its destination faster.
Christensen said while this could open new opportunities for the mission while the spacecraft is on its journey, he is looking forward to the first results of the moon Europa.
“Someday in the future, we're going to land there and drill through and get into that ocean. So you know, I think we're going to play a major role in that future exploration of Europa and maybe even the discovery of life," Christensen said.
Europa Clipper is expected to reach its final destination in 2030.
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