Europa / jʊˈroʊpə / ⓘ, or Jupiter II, is the smallest of the four Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, and the sixth-closest to the planet of all the 95 known moons of Jupiter. It is also the sixth-largest moon in the Solar System.

3 days ago · Europa is the fourth largest of Jupiter’s 95 moons. It's the sixth-closest moon to the planet. Europa may be one of the most promising places in our solar system to find present-day environments suitable for some form of life beyond Earth.

6 days ago · Europa Clipper is a robotic solar-powered spacecraft built to conduct the first detailed investigations of Jupiter's icy moon Europa. With its solar arrays deployed, Europa Clipper spans more than 100 feet (about 30 meters) – about the length of a basketball court.

Jun 8, 2021 · Jupiter’s moon Europa is considered one of the most promising places in the solar system to search for signs of present-day life, and a new NASA mission to explore this potential is moving forward from concept review to development.

Apr 21, 2025 · Europa is one of Jupiter's four largest moons. It shows strong evidence for an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy crust. In fact, it could have all the ingredients for life as we know it.

Europa orbits Jupiter every 3.5 days and is locked by gravity to Jupiter, so the same hemisphere of the moon always faces the planet. Jupiter takes about 4,333 Earth days (or about 12 Earth years) to orbit the Sun (a Jovian year).

Apr 19, 2025 · Europa, the smallest and second nearest of the four large moons (Galilean satellites) discovered around Jupiter by the Italian astronomer Galileo in 1610. It was probably also discovered independently that same year by the German astronomer Simon Marius, who named it after Europa of Greek mythology.

3 days ago · NASA's Juno spacecraft is orbiting Jupiter, and has made close flybys of Europa. ESA (European Space Agency) has launched a mission called JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer). NASA launched Europa Clipper on Oct. 14, 2024 - the first mission to conduct a detailed science investigation of Europa.

Apr 16, 2025 · Jupiter’s moon Europa is one of those places. It is a long way from the Sun—more than five times farther than the distance between Earth and the Sun. It is so cold on Europa that water on the surface of the moon is frozen as hard as rock. We can usually crack our Earth's winter ice with an ice pick. On Europa, it would take a jack hammer!

Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed reconnaissance of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. NASA’s Europa Clipper will determine if this ocean world has environments suitable for life to exist.