ATTEMPT NO LANDING HERE

In a weeks time, a Falcon Heavy Rocket will lift off carrying the NASA/JPL Europa Clipper probe, headed for the jovian system and the moon most likely to be capable of supporting life. Europa has long been suspected of having a liquid ocean beneath an icy crust, as previous probes such as Voyager and Cassini-Huygens have suggested. After a six year journey, using a gravity assist from the orbits of Earth and Mars, the Clipper should reach its destination in 2030. It will then make a series of orbits, dipping in and out of the massive radiation field around Jupiter, to map the small moon. It is hoped that the long theorised liquid ocean can be confirmed and the possibility of alien life examined.

Europa was famously shown to be central to the alien intelligences behind the 2001 Monolith and featured heavily in the sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact. In the film, a probe identifies a green motile substance on the icy surface of Europa, before an energy pulse destroys it. 

After Jupiter is converted into a new star by the intervention of monoliths, the alien intelligence transmits a chilling message to Earth: 

" All these worlds are now yours, except Europa. Attempt no landing here".

Lets hope this isn't the case this time! Europa has also featured in low budget sci-fi film from 2013, which featured Sharlto Copley of A-Team and District 9 fame. 

Although very much centred on the human drama angle, as the crew of a manned mission to explore the moon fall foul of various accidents and hazards, it is technically accurate and features some very nice effects.

Very reminicent of films like 'Life' and 'Gravity', with astronauts claustrophobic persectives, it does end with quite a satisfying denouement.

In a similar vein, the BBC two parter 'Space Odyssey - Voyage to the Planets' from 2004 tels the story of a joint ESA mission in the shape of a grand tour, taking in the inner planets, before visiting the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn (including Europa and Titan) before finally visiting Pluto.

The effects are again excellent, depicting the mile long ion driven ship 'Pegasus' and a series of specialised landers for each of the major planets. The story is a little wearisome, bouncing between pathos on the spaceship and arguments among the ground control crew on Earth, with acting leaving something to be desired in parts and not reaching beyond the soap opera level. However, the visuals are excellent, the science is accurate and the series was released on dvd and also as a large format book, full of facts and information about each planet and focussing more on the mission and less on the traumacom style of production that besets the show.