NASA has confirmed that mission to Jupiter's most curious moon Europa has entered the development phase.

Scientists have long suggested that it's the most likely place that life might have evolved beyond Earth. Europa is covered in a thick layer of constantly-shifting ice, which appears to be floating atop a deep, warm ocean.

John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said, "Today we're taking an exciting step from concept to mission, in our quest to find signs of life beyond Earth. Observations of Europa have provided us with tantalizing clues over the last two decades, and the time has come to seek answers to one of humanity's most profound questions".

NASA has planned a trip to the moon in the early 2020s. The solar-powered probe will be sent to orbit the giant planet about every two weeks. It will head out to Jupiter and begin a long series of looping orbits that will take it within 16 miles to 1,700 miles (25 kilometers to 2,700 kilometers) of Europa's surface.

Europa has been speculated most notably by scientists' best hope to find extraterrestrial life in our Solar System. Its oceans might be twice as big as Earth's oceans, and scientists speculate that Europa's seas have a rocky floor and even tides created by Jupiter's gravitational pull.

The space agency has picked the instruments to fly out to Jupiter, Now, it's just a question of getting the orbital mechanics right, securing funding, and getting the hardware out of our gravity well.

In order to study the surface and chemical composition of Europa, cameras and spectrometers will be taken along. There will also be ice-penetrating radar that will scan the size of its oceans and a magnetometer that should tell us their depth and salinity.