Europe invests $384M in search for alien life on Jupiter's moons

With recent milestones in space exploration, including this month's flyby of the New Horizons spacecraft of Pluto, one may wonder whether man has reached the end of planetary exploration.

Not at all, say scientists. In fact, there are so many interesting celestial objects yet to be explored.

One of which is the Jupiter system, which the European Space Agency -- Europe's version of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA -- hopes to explore in more than a decade.

The ESA says it is awarding a $384 million contract to Airbus Defense and Space for a mission to look for signs of life on the giant planet's moons, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

This is the first time that such a mission is being undertaken. "All our current exciting and fascinating space missions have been dealing with either understanding the origins of life and our Solar System or finding exoplanets or Earth-like planets," said Daniel Brown, an astronomy expert from Nottingham Trent University.

The mission, dubbed Juice or JUpiter ICy moons Explorer, launches in 2022, and seeks to find out whether Jupiter's moons have within their icy crust micro-organisms or fish-like creatures.

Oceans of liquid water are thought to be lying underneath the crust of Jupiter's satellites, based on a study by a team of researchers using the Hubble Space Telescope.

This is bolstered by recent images of Pluto suggesting that icy outer planets and moons could hold water.

Ganymede, in particular, is believed to have a body of water bigger than the Earth's oceans combined.

"It will give us a much better understanding what lies beneath the icy crust and how it could offer an environment for life to develop," said Brown.

Of the three planet-sized moons, Brown said, Europa is the most likely to harbor life forms.

Before exploring the three moons, the probe will sweep around Jupiter for a closer look at its atmosphere and dark rings.

The exploration is not expected to take place until 2030, as the spacecraft needs to gain speed by sling-shotting around Earth, Mars, and Venus for seven and half years in order to reach Jupiter.

Airbus, a company based in Europe, will provide an Ariane 5 rocket for the probe.

"Juice will address the question: are there current habitats outside Earth in the Solar System with the necessary conditions to sustain life?" said François Auque, Head of Space Systems at Airbus.

The Juice spacecraft will be carrying cutting-edge equipment, including cameras, ice-penetrating radar, sensors, and spectrometers that will determine the type of materials comprising the surface of the celestial body.