Nuclear probe to watch Jovian moons

Posted by tourdemars to Technology at December 9, 2003 12:00 PM

NASA plans to dispatch a hulking nuclear-powered spacecraft to determine whether three of Jupiter’s icy, planet-sized moons have the potential to harbor life. The Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, or JIMO, would spend monthlong stints circling the moons Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, which are believed to have vast oceans tucked beneath thick covers of ice.