Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., hemos recibido información de la Agencia Espacial NASA, sobre una espectacular fotografía de uno de los Hemisferio del satélite Europa del planeta Júpiter : Este mosaico de 12 tramas ofrece la vista más alta resolución jamás obtenida del lado del satélite Europa de Júpiter que gira alrededor el planeta gigante. Se obtuvo el 25 de noviembre de 1999 por la cámara a bordo de la nave espacial Galileo, un pasado misión de la NASA a Júpiter y sus lunas que terminó en 2003. La NASA anunciará hoy, martes, 26 de mayo de la selección de los instrumentos científicos de la misión de Europa, para investigar si podría albergar condiciones adecuadas para la vida. La misión a Europa llevaría a cabo repetidos sobrevuelos cercanos de la pequeña luna durante un período de tres años.
More information.....
http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/europas-jupiter-facing-hemisphere
This 12-frame mosaic provides the highest resolution view ever obtained of the side of Jupiter's moon Europa
that faces the giant planet. It was obtained on Nov. 25, 1999 by the
camera onboard the Galileo spacecraft, a past NASA mission to Jupiter
and its moons which ended in 2003. NASA will announce today,
Tuesday, May 26, the selection of science instruments for a mission to
Europa, to investigate whether it could harbor conditions suitable for
life. The Europa mission would conduct repeated close flybys of the
small moon during a three-year period.
Numerous linear features in the center of this mosaic and toward the
poles may have formed in response to tides strong enough to fracture
Europa's icy surface. Some of these features extend for over 1,500
kilometers (900 miles). Darker regions near the equator on the eastern
(right) and western (left) limb may be vast areas of chaotic terrain.
Bright white spots near the western limb are the ejecta blankets of
young impact craters.
North is to the top of the picture and the sun illuminates the
surface from the left. The image, centered at 0 latitude and 10
longitude, covers an area approximately 2,500 by 3,000 kilometers. The
finest details that can discerned in this picture are about 2 kilometers
across (about 1,550 by 1,860 miles).
The images were taken by Galileo's camera when the spacecraft was 94,000 kilometers (58,000 miles) from Europa.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Last Updated: May 29, 2015
Editor: Sarah Loff
Tags: Europa, Image of the Day, Moons, Solar System
NASA’s Europa Mission Begins with Selection of Science Instruments
Bizarre features on Europa’s icy surface suggest a
warm interior. This view of the surface of Jupiter's moon Europa was
obtained by NASA's Galileo mission, and shows a color image set within a
larger mosaic of low-resolution monochrome images. Galileo was able to
survey only a small fraction of Europa's surface in color at high
resolution; a future mission would include a high-resolution imaging
capability to capture a much larger part of the moon's surface.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA has selected nine science instruments for a mission to Jupiter’s
moon Europa, to investigate whether the mysterious icy moon could
harbor conditions suitable for life.
NASA’s Galileo mission yielded strong evidence that Europa, about the
size of Earth’s moon, has an ocean beneath a frozen crust of unknown
thickness. If proven to exist, this global ocean could have more than
twice as much water as Earth. With abundant salt water, a rocky sea
floor, and the energy and chemistry provided by tidal heating, Europa
could be the best place in the solar system to look for present day life
beyond our home planet.
This artist's rendering shows a concept for a
future NASA mission to Europa in which a spacecraft would make multiple
close flybys of the icy Jovian moon, thought to contain a global
subsurface ocean.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech
“Europa has tantalized us with its enigmatic icy surface and evidence
of a vast ocean, following the amazing data from 11 flybys of the
Galileo spacecraft over a decade ago and recent Hubble observations
suggesting plumes of water shooting out from the moon," said John
Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission
Directorate in Washington. “We’re excited about the potential of this
new mission and these instruments to unravel the mysteries of Europa in
our quest to find evidence of life beyond Earth.”
NASA’s fiscal year 2016 budget request includes $30 million to
formulate a mission to Europa. The mission would send a solar-powered
spacecraft into a long, looping orbit around the gas giant Jupiter to
perform repeated close flybys of Europa over a three-year period. In
total, the mission would perform 45 flybys at altitudes ranging from 16
miles to 1,700 miles (25 kilometers to 2,700 kilometers).
The payload of selected science instruments includes cameras and
spectrometers to produce high-resolution images of Europa’s surface and
determine its composition. An ice penetrating radar will determine the
thickness of the moon’s icy shell and search for subsurface lakes
similar to those beneath Antarctica. The mission also will carry a
magnetometer to measure strength and direction of the moon’s magnetic
field, which will allow scientists to determine the depth and salinity
of its ocean.
A thermal instrument will scour Europa’s frozen surface in search of
recent eruptions of warmer water, while additional instruments will
search for evidence of water and tiny particles in the moon’s thin
atmosphere. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope observed water vapor above the
south polar region of Europa in 2012, providing the first strong
evidence of water plumes. If the plumes’ existence is confirmed – and
they’re linked to a subsurface ocean – it will help scientists
investigate the chemical makeup of Europa's potentially habitable
environment while minimizing the need to drill through layers of ice.
Last year, NASA invited researchers to submit proposals for
instruments to study Europa. Thirty-three were reviewed and, of those,
nine were selected for a mission that will launch in the 2020s.
“This is a giant step in our search for oases that could support life
in our own celestial backyard,” said Curt Niebur, Europa program
scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re confident that this
versatile set of science instruments will produce exciting discoveries
on a much-anticipated mission.”
The NASA selectees are:
Plasma Instrument for Magnetic Sounding (PIMS) --
principal investigator Dr. Joseph Westlake of Johns Hopkins Applied
Physics Laboratory (APL), Laurel, Maryland. This instrument works in
conjunction with a magnetometer and is key to determining Europa's ice
shell thickness, ocean depth, and salinity by correcting the magnetic
induction signal for plasma currents around Europa.
Interior Characterization of Europa using Magnetometry (ICEMAG)
-- principal investigator Dr. Carol Raymond of NASA’s Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California. This magnetometer will measure
the magnetic field near Europa and – in conjunction with the PIMS
instrument – infer the location, thickness and salinity of Europa’s
subsurface ocean using multi-frequency electromagnetic sounding.
Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE) --
principal investigator Dr. Diana Blaney of JPL. This instrument will
probe the composition of Europa, identifying and mapping the
distributions of organics, salts, acid hydrates, water ice phases, and
other materials to determine the habitability of Europa’s ocean.
Europa Imaging System (EIS) -- principal
investigator Dr. Elizabeth Turtle of APL. The wide and narrow angle
cameras on this instrument will map most of Europa at 50 meter (164
foot) resolution, and will provide images of areas of Europa’s surface
at up to 100 times higher resolution.
Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON)
-- principal investigator Dr. Donald Blankenship of the University of
Texas, Austin. This dual-frequency ice penetrating radar instrument is
designed to characterize and sound Europa's icy crust from the
near-surface to the ocean, revealing the hidden structure of Europa’s
ice shell and potential water within.
Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS) --
principal investigator Dr. Philip Christensen of Arizona State
University, Tempe. This “heat detector” will provide high spatial
resolution, multi-spectral thermal imaging of Europa to help detect
active sites, such as potential vents erupting plumes of water into
space.
MAss SPectrometer for Planetary EXploration/Europa (MASPEX) --
principal investigator Dr. Jack (Hunter) Waite of the Southwest
Research Institute (SwRI), San Antonio. This instrument will determine
the composition of the surface and subsurface ocean by measuring
Europa’s extremely tenuous atmosphere and any surface material ejected
into space.
Ultraviolet Spectrograph/Europa (UVS) -- principal
investigator Dr. Kurt Retherford of SwRI. This instrument will adopt the
same technique used by the Hubble Space Telescope to detect the likely
presence of water plumes erupting from Europa’s surface. UVS will be
able to detect small plumes and will provide valuable data about the
composition and dynamics of the moon’s rarefied atmosphere.
SUrface Dust Mass Analyzer (SUDA) -- principal
investigator Dr. Sascha Kempf of the University of Colorado, Boulder.
This instrument will measure the composition of small, solid particles
ejected from Europa, providing the opportunity to directly sample the
surface and potential plumes on low-altitude flybys.
Separate from the selectees listed above, the SPace Environmental and
Composition Investigation near the Europan Surface (SPECIES) instrument
has been chosen for further technology development. Led by principal
investigator Dr. Mehdi Benna at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Maryland, this combined neutral mass spectrometer and gas
chromatograph will be developed for other mission opportunities.
NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington conducts a wide
variety of research and scientific exploration programs for Earth
studies, space weather, the solar system and the universe.
For more information about Europa, visit:
-end-
Felicia Chou / Laurie Cantillo
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0257 / 202-358-1077
felicia.chou@nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0257 / 202-358-1077
felicia.chou@nasa.gov / laura.l.cantillo@nasa.gov
Last Updated: May 29, 2015
Editor: Karen Northon
Tags: Europa, Jupiter, Solar System
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
ayabaca@gmail.com
ayabaca@hotmail.com
ayabaca@yahoo.com
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