Even after Europe's Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) concludes its mission more than ten years from now, we are unlikely to know for sure whether life might be thriving in the vicinity of the solar system's largest planet.
Liquid water, a source of energy and nutrients are the three things scientists believe are necessary for life to emerge anywhere in the universe. Some of Jupiter's moons are more likely than others to provide all three of these elements. The European Space Agency's JUICE mission, set to launch this week, aims to help scientists better understand which of these moons possess the right stuff and could possibly support life, and which couldn't.
