(Washington, D.C.) Jupiter’s Europa moon is known to be covered with ice and exist at temperatures as cold as -350 degrees Fahrenheit, yet it is believed there is a vast liquid water ocean beneath the ice…and ocean which could contain the first known sign of life beyond Earth.
Under contract to Arizona State University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Raytheon Intelligence & Space is collaborating on a soon-to-be-launched Europa Clipper spacecraft tasked with using Raytheon-engineered next-generation infrared detector to search for warmer temperatures emerging from warm water beneath the extremely cold ice.
“One of NASA’s major goals is to look for habitable environments, which need water. There are scientific advances with infrared imaging.
Every object emits energy in the infrared and the warmer it is the more energy it emits. One thing you get from infrared observations is temperature, and using this principle the key goal of the camera is to map the temperature of the surface of the moon. The ocean beneath the ice on the moon is moving and churning and where that warm water is getting close to the surface, it will warm up the ice and we will see it,” Phil Christensen, Regents Professor at Arizona State University.
Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS)
The instrument called E-THEMIS for Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System, uses high-fidelity advanced infrared imaging of Europa’s atmosphere, water and ice. The sensor, according to Raytheon data, will use uncooled, microbolometer technology to detect infrared wavelengths from heat sources and develop that data into HD-quality imagery.
Future proposed exploration could involve penetrating the ice, as explained by Christensen and Raytheon Senior Engineering Fellow Paolo Masini.
The E-THEMIS will help this goal by mapping the surface temperatures. “Where the ice is the warmest the liquid water is closest to the surface and that is where potential future missions could land and put your submersible in the ocean on Europa” Christensen added about future exploration.
