Tracy Drain

So usually we don't like to crash into Europa because that is a place that might be habitable for life, so we don't want to contaminate it.

Oh, of course.

And in the past, there have been rules saying that, you know, you shall not...

unintentionally or otherwise, crash into Europa.

You got it.

Just in case there's the tiniest bit of contamination and in case there's any way that something from the surface of the ice could get down into the liquid below.

Now, since then...

We've done lots and lots of analyses complying with the Planetary Protection Office, which is an actual thing, and to determine how long it would take something from all the information we know today to get down to the surface.

And so I think that...

Theoretically, we could de-orbit.

We don't like to say crash.

We say plan to de-orbit onto Europa.

But that's so far out the end of mission.

I haven't even personally been paying attention to what our plans are there yet.

Somebody knows, but not me personally.

No.

It is.

Inscribed on Europa Clipper is this really beautiful plaque that has a poem by Ada Limon about how we are all water.

It's like this connection that we have to Europa.

We humans come from the evolutionary, the sea, and we have a lot of water on our bodies.