It is the year 2042, astronauts traveled from Earth to Jupiter in a space station equipped with a vehicle that will travel to Jupiter’s moon of Europa to launch a probe into the ice moon. Its goal is to dive deep into the massive water ocean underneath the ice sheets studied by the Europa Clipper in the 2020s. The salty ocean contains more water than all the Earth’s oceans combined!

Due to an emergency, Mission Control is closed, and we are going to take the lessons learned from the 2020 pandemic on how to work remotely by having a remote Mission Control to finish the mission. You have been chosen as a member of the remote Mission Control crew to manage the astronaut. You will keep the astronaut safe from dangers such as radiation, guide them to the proper location, determine the impact location for the probe, to launch the probe into its depths, and analyze data from the probe.

What is hidden in the ocean? Life? It is your job to find out!

Copy and paste the contents of the box below to the chat of your call software (ZOOM, Google Meets, etc) so that your party can access their assigned task cards.

Descriptions of each station are found below.

MISSION STATIONS

The COMMUNICATIONS (COM) Officer is the voice of Mission Control. They will be speaking directly to the Mission Commander, relaying any messages from teammates over to the spacecraft.

LINK: https://sacscobee.space/sec-europa-com/

As a member of the NAV team, you are responsible for tracking the position of the Spacecraft and getting the Mission Commander in orbit around Europa. Your calculations will be vital to getting the Mission Commander to orbit Europa and send the probe to the surface and return to the Jupiter Gateway. Once the probe has been launched, you are responsible for getting the Spacecraft back to the Jupiter Gateway. 

LINK: https://sacscobee.space/sec-europa-nav/

Your job is to prepare, test and launch the robotic drill that will burrow into the surface of Europa. This bot is the most mission critical component for the success of the mission, as without it we cannot learn what is under Europa’s ice sheets! 

LINK: https://sacscobee.space/sec-europa-bot/

Your job is to determine the best place for the probe to impact the surface of Europa, Jupiter’s icy moon. You will analyze three locations in hopes of determining which location provides the best opportunity to find signs of potential life on Europa. 

LINK: https://sacscobee.space/sec-europa-rem/

Your job is to maintain the critical life support systems onboard the spacecraft. Without this system, the astronauts cannot survive in space.

LINK: https://sacscobee.space/sec-europa-ls/

Your job is to monitor the radiation level onboard the Spacecraft. A small level of radioactivity is normal. A large level of radioactivity could create a hazardous environment for the astronaut.

LINK: https://sacscobee.space/sec-europa-rad/

Your job is to analyze features of Europa’s surface in order to learn more about Jupiter’s icy moon and to help the Remote team determine the best impact location for the probe. You will also analyze spectrometer readings to determine element composition.

LINK: https://sacscobee.space/sec-europa-ocean/