Galileo Flew Through A Water Plume From Europa In 1997

Old Data Reveal New Evidence of Europa Plumes, NASA
“Scientists re-examining data from an old mission bring new insights to the tantalizing question of whether Jupiter’s moon Europa has the ingredients to support life. The data provide independent evidence that the moon’s subsurface liquid water reservoir may be venting plumes of water vapor above its icy shell.”
Evidence of a plume on Europa from Galileo magnetic and plasma wave signatures, Nature Astronomy
“Here, we report in-situ evidence of a plume on Europa from the magnetic field and plasma wave observations acquired on Galileo’s closest encounter with the moon. During this flyby, which dropped below 400?km altitude, the magnetometer recorded an approximately 1,000-kilometre-scale field rotation and a decrease of over 200?nT in field magnitude, and the Plasma Wave Spectrometer9 registered intense localized wave emissions indicative of a brief but substantial increase in plasma density. We show that the location, duration and variations of the magnetic field and plasma wave measurements are consistent with the interaction of Jupiter’s corotating plasma with Europa if a plume with characteristics inferred from Hubble images were erupting from the region of Europa’s thermal anomalies. These results provide strong independent evidence of the presence of plumes at Europa.”

NASA Hosts Live Discussion about Europa Findings, Potential for Life
“NASA will host a Science Chat at 1 p.m. EDT Monday, May 14, to discuss the latest analysis of Jupiter’s moon Europa and its status as one of the most promising places in the solar system to search for life. Europa has long been a high priority for exploration because beneath its icy crust lies a salty, liquid water ocean. NASA’s Europa Clipper, targeted to launch in 2022, will be equipped with the instruments necessary to determine whether Europa possesses the ingredients necessary to support life as we know it.”
House bill keeps Europa Clipper on track despite launch vehicle uncertainties, Space News
“At the May 9 markup, Culberson passed around a scientific paper with involving a new discovery about Europa and the existence of plumes that offer additional proof that the icy moon has a subsurface ocean of liquid water. “It’s worth noting that the scientific journal Nature Astronomy just reported that the Galileo mission, back in 1997, flew through a water plume on Europa a thousand kilometers thick. So, the ocean of Europa is venting into outer space,” he said. “The science community has wanted to go there for years, Mr. Chairman, and this bill makes that happen.” “Just in case I hadn’t seen it?” the full committee’s chairman, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) asked, looking at the paper. “There it is,” Culberson responded. As it turns out, the paper in question had not been published yet, and the journal had embargoed its release until May 14.”
Galileo ionosphere profile coincident with repeat plume detection location at Europa
“Multiple plume detections at Europa have now been reported using the Hubble Space Telescope with independent techniques (Roth et al. 2014; Sparks et al. 2016). A repeat detection of a plume at the same location has also been reported (Sparks et al. 2017), and this location, near the well-known crater Pwyll, is coincident with a previously-reported thermal anomaly observed with the Galileo PPR in 1997 (Spencer et al. 1999).”