In the 2000-2010s, a Russian-European-American mission was being worked out, which involved sending to Europe, one of the satellites of Jupiter, in the under-ice ocean of which life is possible, the interplanetary space station Europa Jupiter System Mission, the deputy director of the Institute of Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Corresponding Member of the RAS Oleg Korablev.
The specialist noted that within the framework of the project, the Russian side was responsible for the creation of the Laplace landing station. “We have spent many years on this project, but it turned out that there is no chance with the radiation resistance of electronic components that we could count on,” the scientist said.
Korablev noted that “as a result, our part” died out “, and the American and European parts were divided, turning, respectively, into Europa Clipper and JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer – approx.” Lenta.ru “)”. The scientist added that the American mission uses “armor-piercing devices made from armor-piercing microcircuits, which are only in the United States.”
According to the scientist, “Venus has been chosen as our main vector, taking into account all financial constraints.” Korablev also added that the Russian scientific instrument is planned to be used on the Chinese mission to the asteroid. “China is opening, but not immediately,” said the scientist.
In May 2016, NASA, citing a study published in Geophysical Research Letters by scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, reported that the chemical balance of Europa’s subglacial reservoir resembles that of Earth’s ocean.
Europa is one of the main candidates for the source of extraterrestrial life in the solar system. Under the icy surface of Europa, an under-ice ocean or a layer of viscous ice may be hidden. Salt water under the surface of Jupiter’s moon may be twice as large as in the oceans on Earth. The Hubble telescope recorded water geysers in Europe in 2012. On Earth, conditions similar to European ones are observed, for example, in the hydrothermal fields of the Lost City of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.