Esa selects 1bn-euro Juice probe to Jupiter

The European Space Agency has proposed a space mission to send a probe, Juice (JUpiter ICy moon Explorer), to Jupiter. The launch is expected to happen in 2022, and should reach Jupiter 8 years later, in 2030. The final go ahead for the mission will be given in 2014. The probe, Juice, will be instrument packed and have nearly 5 tonnes of satellites, and will investigate not only Jupiter, but 3 of its moons as well. When it reaches the Jovian System, it will use the gravity of Jupiter to fly by Callisto and Europa before settling into an orbit around Ganymede. This mission will aim to explore the habitability of the moons which are suspected to have all 4 conditions required for life and to have oceans under thier icy surfaces. Scientists believe that the make up of the moons is not fair from that of Antarctica and the Artic, predicting that similar life forms may be able to live there.
This mission will not only educate us on Jupiter and its moons, but will offer new information which can give us an even better understanding of our solar system and maybe some of the other planets in it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17917102

Research missions like the one proposed by ESA are going to aid us immensely in learning more about Jupitor's, and it's moons, ability to host living organisms. I personally find the research to be intriguing, and exciting, especially since the moon Europa is going to be studied. Since this moon exhibits icy conditions like certain areas here on Earth, it makes for a good chance that life will one day be possible on this space body. Just like the Earth after the ice age, it could thaw up and be an ideal location for new life forms, and maybe even existing ones that could be brought over from our planet Earth. It will be interesting to follow this proposed mission into 2030 and hear the analysis of the results brought to us by the JUICE probe. Advances in space exploration are likely to be a hot topic in science over the next century. This is only the beginning.