Is NASA looking for Rods?

NASA

Just find it interesting.

Not sure where you got the notion they were looking for rods.

I think the general plan is to see if Europa actually has water, then
determine if there is some form of life in it.

One thing about the article did puzzle me, though :

The mission is the latest step in a 400-year-old endeavor to understand Jupiter and its distant moons.

400 year old endeavor ? I'm hoping that's a misprint.

External Link

Very cool, none-the-less. Thanks for the info.

Lex

And 20 years before they send it to Europa Let's hope there's some form of disclosure before then -- doubtful

I think the 400 years bit was refering to the part that said:

Thought to have twice as much water as Earth, Europa has intrigued scientists ever since Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei observed Jupiter's four largest moons for the first time in 1610.

uv,
Thanks for that clarification !!
Makes sense, now.

Lex

Has NASA or other agencies used cover stories in the past to conceal secret mission objectives? Of course they have, we only know of the ones that have come to light with evidence and disclosure. One must assume that the revealed cases only represent less than 5% or so of the total amount of secret missions by NASA or other gov't agencies (non-mil).

Here is one that has been admitted:

GLOMAR EXPLORER-CIA COVER OP

So could it be that NASA is looking on our own planet for sentient life in addition to mankind? Maybe....

Why would NASA be looking for a camera effect?

Rods, as there called are not some unique special life-form, what they are are insects
flying by a camera very fast, and since a lot of cameras are not made to get the amount
of frames per second as would be required to see that they are just normal insects,
they are mistaken as some unique phenomenon, when in reality all it is is camera-speed blur.