University of Colorado researchers design space instrument to study icy moon of Jupiter

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder designed a $50 million space instrument that will study an icy moon of Jupiter. The instrument designed and built in Colorado is scheduled to launch on Oct. 10 aboard NASA's flagship Europa Clipper mission. 

According to CU researchers, the Surface Dust Analyzer will begin its six-year journey to Jupiter's moon Europa. Scientists believe the moon has an ocean of water beneath its icy surface. SUDA was designed and built by a team from the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder. It will investigate Europa to determine if it has conditions that could support life. 

"This will allow us to address very fundamental questions for humanity is it likely that life could have been formed anywhere else in the solar system or is there even life somewhere else in the solar system?" asked Sascha Kempf, CU Boulder professor. 

SUDA is one of nine scientific instruments aboard NASA's Europa Clipper Spacecraft. The spacecraft will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.