Need a last-minute gift? Send their name to space! :

We’re putting names onto our Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will travel 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion km) to study the ocean moon of Jupiter you see here, but you have to sign up by Dec. 31, 2023.

Scientists are almost certain that beneath Europa’s ever-changing icy crust lies a vast saltwater ocean that holds almost twice as much water as Earth’s oceans. With a thin oxygen atmosphere and abundant water, Europa is considered one of the best places in our solar system to search for life. Set to launch in 2024, Europa Clipper will begin its orbit of the moon by 2030, where the spacecraft wills search for the key elements of life as we know it.

Image description: Half of Europa is seen, with its poles cast partially in shadow on the left and right of the image. Its white and blue tinted surface gives way to rust-colored stripes which carve across its icy crust.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute

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25 December 2023