Jupiter's moon Europa may have signs of life in its buried ocean — but can we get to them?

NASA's Europa Clipper is currently on a 1.8-billion-mile journey to Jupiter, tasked with assessing whether the icy moon of its namesake, Europa, could support life.

Based on data from the historic Voyager and Galileo missions, scientists know Europa hides a global ocean beneath its frozen crust, containing more than double the water of all Earth's oceans combined. During the Europa Clipper's planned 49 close flybys of the icy moon, planetary scientists hope the spacecraft detects giant water plumes or warm surface pockets supplied by this subterranean ocean, offering a convenient way to analyze the hidden ocean's chemistry from orbit.

A new study, however, suggests any shallow water the Europa Clipper detects may not necessarily be a direct window into Europa's ocean after all.

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