Q 01/05

What powers NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft on its mission to Jupiter?

A) A plutonium generator

B) Solar panels

C) A fission reactor

D) Hydrogen fuel cells

Answer · why

B) Solar panels

Solar panels. Sunlight at Jupiter is about 25 times fainter than at Earth, so the probe carries enormous arrays to gather enough power.

Q 02/05

Any life in Europa's ocean might cluster around which seafloor feature, as deep-sea creatures do on Earth?

A) Coral reefs

B) Deep-sea trenches

C) Kelp forests

D) Hydrothermal vents

Answer · why

D) Hydrothermal vents

Hydrothermal vents. No sunlight reaches beneath the ice, so anything living there would have to run on chemical energy, as the communities around Eart...

Q 03/05

Galileo first named Europa and its three sister moons after which powerful family, his patrons?

A) The Medici

B) The Borgias

C) The Habsburgs

D) The Sforzas

Answer · why

A) The Medici

The Medici. Galileo called the four moons the Medicean Stars to honour his patrons, but the tribute faded and astronomers now call them the Galilean m...

Q 04/05

Among Jupiter's four Galilean moons, Europa is which?

A) The largest

B) The outermost

C) The smallest

D) The most volcanic

Answer · why

C) The smallest

The smallest. Yet it drew NASA's largest planetary spacecraft: Europa Clipper, launched in 2024 to find out whether this little world could support li...

Q 05/05

Europa is slightly smaller than which body?

A) Mercury

B) Titan

C) Pluto

D) The Moon

Answer · why

D) The Moon

The Moon. Europa is about 90% as wide, so it would look much the same size in our night sky, yet far brighter, because its icy surface reflects severa...