NASA’s “Send Your Name to Europa” campaign is a way to raise awareness for the Europa Clipper mission. The campaign invites people to sign their names as part of a poem called “In Praise of”. The names will be etched onto the side of the Europa Clipper spacecraft. The spacecraft is scheduled to launch in October 2024 and travel 1.8 billion miles over six years. It’s expected to enter Jupiter’s orbit in 2030.

Here’s how to submit your name: 

1. Go to NASA’s Europa website 
2. Click the Participate link at the top 
3. Go to the Message in a Bottle page 
4. Click the red Send Your Name button 
5. Fill out the form 

As of November 2023, over 700,000 names have been submitted.

And alongside its high-tech spectrometer, radar system, optical imager and other instruments built to search for proof of alien habitats, the Europa Clipper will be bringing my name. It can bring yours, too. You just have to sign up for NASA’s free “Message in a Bottle program” here

NASA is accepting names for the “Message in a Bottle” campaign until December 31, 2023. The campaign will close at 11:59 PM EST.

NASA is sending the Europa Clipper spacecraft to Jupiter’s moon Europa to investigate if the moon could support life. Europa is considered one of the most promising habitable environments in our solar system. 

Here are some reasons why NASA is interested in Europa: 

• Liquid water Europa has evidence of a liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust. 
• Rocky seafloor Scientists believe there’s a rocky seafloor at the bottom of Europa’s ocean. 
• Hydrothermal activity Hydrothermal activity could provide chemical nutrients that could support life. 
• Geological activity In 2013, NASA found evidence that Europa might be actively venting water into space. 

The Europa Clipper will perform close flybys of Europa to gather measurements. Scientists hope to confirm the existence of Europa’s subsurface ocean, measure the water’s depth and salinity, and characterize the thickness of its icy crust

The Europa Clipper spacecraft will also be engraved with a poem called “In Praise of Mystery” by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón. The poem was written to celebrate the mission. Limón’s handwriting will be engraved on the inward-facing side of a tantalum metal plate that seals an opening into the vault. The poem will also be engraved on a microchip attached to the metal plate. Each line of text is less than 75 nanometers, which is 1/1000th the width of a human hair.

In September 2023, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope discovered carbon dioxide on Europa’s icy surface. The carbon dioxide likely came from Europa’s subsurface ocean. This discovery could be important for the search for life elsewhere in the universe. 

Other discoveries about Europa include: 

• Water vapor: The Hubble Space Telescope found water vapor in Europa’s atmosphere. 
• Magnetic field: Galileo’s magnetometer detected a magnetic field within Europa. This suggests that Europa has a deep layer of electrically conductive fluid beneath its surface.

NASA has sent five spacecraft to Europa. In 1997, the Galileo probe flew by Europa and discovered a magnetic field, which could be caused by a saltwater ocean. During its original mission, the Galileo spacecraft studied Europa during eight close encounters, coming within 125 miles of its surface. 

The European Space Agency (ESA) has also launched a mission to Europa called JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer).

NASA’s Europa Clipper is an orbiter spacecraft that will study Jupiter’s moon Europa. The mission is scheduled to launch in October 2024 and arrive in 2030. The mission will conduct four years of science observations. 

The Europa Clipper will perform a series of flybys of Europa while orbiting Jupiter. The mission will investigate whether Europa’s subsurface ocean could support life. 

The Europa Clipper will be the first mission to explore an ocean world outside of Earth.

NASA has a proposed mission called Europa Lander to send a lander to Europa. The lander would look for signs of life in Europa’s icy surface. If funded, the lander could launch in 2027. 

NASA has also tested a prototype Europa Lander. The lander would examine Europa’s icy sheet and plumes. 

No spacecraft has landed on Europa yet.

Here are some other probes and satellites that have flown by Europa: 

• Voyager 2: Took pictures of Jupiter’s moons and the Great Red Spot 
• Galileo: First spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, and made detailed maps of Jupiter’s moons 
• New Horizons: Imaged Europa in 2007 
• Juno: Orbited Europa in 2022 

• Ganymede: Discovered a magnetic field and evidence of exospheres around Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto 
• Cassini–Huygens: Landed on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan

Other probes and satellites that have visited Jupiter include: (full article source google)

Best telescopes on discount on Amazon