What NASA’s mission to Jupiter moon can – and can’t – achieve
Ever since the Galileo spacecraft flew by Jupiter’s icy moons in 1989, scientists interested in life beyond our planet have been desperate to go back.
Europa Clipper, which blasted off from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, is doing just that.
Galileo found clear evidence that while Ganymede, Calisto and Europa have barren frozen surfaces, beneath them likely lie vast oceans of water.
And, as far as any astrobiologist knows, where there’s water there’s a chance of life.
Kept liquid by Jupiter’s huge tidal forces, Europa’s ocean may be the Solar System’s largest.
Artist’s illustration of the Europa Clipper spacecraft over the Europa moon, with Jupiter in the background. Pic: NASA/JPL-Caltech via AP
Up to 100 miles deep, containing twice the volume of water in all Earth’s oceans, this ocean makes it a prime candidate for exploration.
After a six-year, 1.8 billion-mile journey, Europa Clipper – the largest planetary science mission ever launched by NASA – will spend four years orbiting Jupiter making flybys of its icy moon.
It will use nine instruments to image the surface of the moon to study its atmosphere, measure the thickness of the icy crust, confirm the presence of the ocean and attempt to measure its depth and saltiness.
But before we get too excited, if there’s life on Europa, Europa Clipper won’t “see” it squirming around beneath the ice.
First, the crust is thought to be at least 10 miles thick, too deep for the weak Sun at Jupiter to penetrate.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft being tested in April. Pic: Reuters
Without photosynthesis, if life exists, it is expected to be more akin to the bacteria that lurk in the blackness around hydrothermal vents deep on the sea floor here on Earth.
On Europa, it may live off geothermal heat, or even Jupiter’s radiation fields for energy, and simple organic molecules for food.
But we’re getting beyond Europa Clipper’s remit, which is to confirm whether the environment on the moon is compatible with these theories.
A major bonus would be whether Europa Clipper spots a plume of water erupting from the surface of the moon, which it is known to do on other icy moons. That would mean the chemicals present in the water below can be analysed directly.
“If there are life-forming conditions we expect they’re deep down in the dark,” said Dr Adam Masters, a space scientist at Imperial College London.
Europa Clipper blasted off under sunny skies
“So when the water comes to you, that saves a lot of hassle,” he said.
The chances of getting answers are doubled however. Dr Masters works on another mission, the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE).
It arrives at Jupiter shortly after Europa Clipper and will study Europa as well as another prime candidate for life, Jupiter’s moon Ganymede.
But even if these missions find tantalising chemical evidence of life, confirming its existence, let alone understanding its alien biology, would be decades away.
For that reason, one of the probes’ other objectives is to look for potential landing sites on one of these icy moons.
If Europa Clipper and JUICE finds evidence that Jupiter’s moons have the right conditions for life, the challenge for future space scientists will be figuring out how to get through miles of ice to see it.
A woman in the US who has been missing since 1962 has been found “alive and well”, authorities have said.
Audrey Backeberg left her home in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, in July that year when she was 20 years old, Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said.
Investigators pursued numerous leads over the years but the case eventually went cold.
However, during a review of cold cases earlier this year, a detective reassessed all the case files and evidence, and re-interviewed several witnesses – and found Ms Backeberg.
The 82-year-old was “alive and well” – living outside of the state of Wisconsin, the sheriff’s office said.
Ms Backeberg was married and had two children when she disappeared on 7 July 1962, according to the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy organisation.
She left her home to pick up her salary but never returned, causing her husband to ask family members where she was.
Shortly afterwards their 14-year-old babysitter claimed she and Ms Backeberg had hitchhiked to Wisconsin’s capital city Madison and then caught a bus to Indianapolis, Indiana.
The teenager said when she arrived she became nervous and wanted to go home, while Ms Backeberg refused to return and was last seen walking near a bus stop.
Ms Backeberg’s marriage was troubled and there were allegations of abuse, the Wisconsin Missing Persons Advocacy organisation said, with a criminal complaint having been filed days before she went missing.
Her relatives insisted she would never abandon her children, the organisation added, and her husband passed a polygraph test and maintained his innocence.
Read more from Sky News:
Five survive 36 hours surrounded by alligators after plane crash
Child sex abuse victims will no longer get compensation
Streeting denies Labour ‘mistakes’ and ‘unpopular’ policies
‘We talked for 45 minutes’ – detective
Detective Isaac Hanson, who found Ms Backeberg, said her sister’s Ancestry.com account was vital in helping him locate her address.
“That was pretty key in locating death records, census reports, all kinds of data,” he told local news station WISN.
“So I called the local sheriff’s department, said, ‘Hey, there’s this lady living at this address. Do you guys have somebody, you can just go pop in?’
“Ten minutes later, she called me, and we talked for 45 minutes.”
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
‘She sounded happy’
Mr Hanson said Ms Backeberg may have left home due to marital issues, but it was unclear why she had stayed away for so long.
He said he had promised to keep their conversation private.
“I think she just was removed and, you know, moved on from things and kind of did her own thing and led her life,” he said.
“She sounded happy. Confident in her decision. No regrets.”
Sauk County Sheriff’s Office said Ms Backeberg made the choice to leave and her disappearance “was not the result of any criminal activity or foul play”.
Donald Trump has posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed in papal regalia on his Truth Social platform – just 11 days after the death of Pope Francis.
Uploaded onto his account early on Saturday morning, it shows the US president with a large gold cross on a chain around his neck.
From there, it was published, without comment or explanation, on the White House X and Instagram accounts and, though it drew fierce criticism, it was liked more than 100,000 times.
It comes just a few days after the world leader joked that he’d like to be the pontiff.
Last week, he was asked by reporters on the White House lawn who he would like to succeed Francis and he replied: “I’d like to be Pope. That would be my number one choice.”
He went on to say that he did not have a preference, but there was a cardinal in New York who was “very good”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘I’d like to be pope’
Mr Trump was quickly accused of mocking Pope Francis’s death, but, by noon, UK time, the post had been liked more than 58,000 times on Instagram.
User comments, however, were mostly negative, with one saying that the image “isn’t funny. It’s not satire. And it’s not harmless”.
Another simply called it “disgusting”, while other reactions included “disturbing”, “disrespectful” and “offensive”.
On X, where the picture was liked more than 78,000 times, a user commented that Mr Trump was “making a mockery of the pious”, while another judged it “not a wise decision”.
The conclave to select a new pontiff will begin on 7 May after the death of Francis, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Argentinian, who became pope in 2013, died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 due to a stroke and heart failure.
Last weekend, the president was criticised for wearing a non-traditional blue suit for Francis’s Vatican funeral and chewing gum during the ceremony.
However, his meeting in St Peter’s Basilica with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the outdoor mass got under way was dubbed “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy.
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy met in St Peter’s Basilica. Pic: Ukrainian Presidential Press Office
Read more:
Trump birthday parade planned
Who could be the next pope?
Mr Trump’s own religious views have long been a matter of speculation.
He was raised as a Presbyterian and publicly identified with it for most of his adult life, before, in October 2020, he renounced it and said he now considered himself a non-denominational Christian.
Many have questioned the depth of his faith, but that hasn’t stopped him appealing to conservative Christians and the Christian right, particularly evangelicals, some of whom have helped him get elected twice.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Earlier this year, Mr Trump shared a bizarre AI-generated video on his Truth Social platform showcasing what appeared to be a vision of Gaza under his proposed plan.
The footage showed the area transformed into a Middle Eastern paradise with exotic beaches, Dubai-style skyscrapers, luxury yachts and people partying – and featured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk.
One of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers broke down in tears and swore on the witness stand as a sexual abuse trial continues.
Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault
Miriam Haley claims the former Hollywood mogul forced oral sex on her in July 2006.
The case is being retried after the appeals court overturned his conviction last year.
She was working as a production assistant at the time.
Weinstein has strenuously denied all allegations, and Ms Haley also testified at Weinstein’s initial trial.
Miriam Haley. AP file pic
Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday as he appeared for his retrial. Pic: AP
The 48-year-old was testifying in a Manhattan court when Weinstein’s defence lawyer Jennifer Bonjean questioned her account of the incident.
In court, Ms Bonjean asked why Ms Haley would agree to Weinstein’s invitation to his apartment after testifying about his previous behaviour, including her alleging that he barged into her home.
Ms Haley then became emotional after being asked how her clothes came off before Weinstein allegedly pulled out a tampon and performed oral sex on her.
She said Weinstein took off her clothing, but she didn’t recall the details, before Ms Bonjean asked: “You removed your clothes, right?”
Read more:
Harvey Weinstein retrial: ‘He had all the power’
Weinstein accuser felt ‘the unthinkable was happening’ during alleged assault
Ms Haley then told jurors that Weinstein “was the one who raped me, not the other way around” – to which his lawyer said: “That is for the jury to decide.”
She then started crying and said: “No, it’s not for the jury to decide. It’s my experience. And he did that to me.”
Sky’s US partner network NBC News reported that Ms Haley said during the exchange: “Don’t tell me I wasn’t raped by that f*****g asshole.”
Judge Curtis Farber then halted questioning and sent jurors on a break. Ms Haley’s eyes were red and her face was glistening as she left the witness stand.
In February 2020, Weinstein was found guilty of sexually assaulting Ms Haley – along with raping former actor Jessica Mann in a New York hotel in 2013 – and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
His conviction for the two crimes was overturned in April after an appeals court ruled the trial judge unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that weren’t part of the case.
After the appeal ruling, Weinstein was charged with raping one woman and forcing oral sex on two others.
Two of the charges are those he faced during the original trial, while the third – one of the charges of forcing oral sex on Kaja Sokola – was added last year.
Weinstein denies all allegations, and his lawyers argue his accusers had consensual sexual encounters.
Regardless of the outcome of the retrial, he will remain in prison over a 2022 conviction in Los Angeles for a separate count of rape. His lawyers are also appealing this sentence.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway