Europa

Europa is a moon of the planet Jupiter, and is the fourth largest of the Galilean moons out of a total 67-moon cluster. It has also been referred to as "Jupiter II". It was first discovered by astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610 and named after the Greek figure Europa, who was the lover of Zeus and mother of King Minos of Crete. It is over 3,100 kilometers in diameter, slightly smaller than Earth's moon. It is the sixth-largest moon and fifteenth-largest object in the Solar System.

In fiction
Europa played a key role in the "Space Odyssey" series of novels by author Arthur C. Clarke. An ancient alien race dubbed the "First Born" created a series of black monolith artifacts that monitored intelligent life in the universe, prompting evolutionary change in races that the First Born decreed had the potential for advancement and survival. One such Monolith, TMA-2 appeared in the orbit of Europa. Over the course of a thousand years, it prompted a catalyst that caused life forms to develop on the moon. To assist in the developmental cycle of these new forms, the planet Jupiter was converted into a sun. Colonists from Earth immigrated to Europa to set up a new colony where they could coexist with the growing intelligent life forms on the moon.

Europa of the 31st century was also spotlighted in comic books published by Marvel Comics. In this timeline, there was actually a race of mutants from Earth who had left their home world to colonize Europa. The Guardians of the Galaxy came to Europa and discovered remnants of the colony from years earlier. They discovered a space vessel, which they began using as their main source of conveyance and dubbed it the Captain America II after the 20th century super-hero Captain America.

A woman named Rancor came to rule the moon of Europa in the 31st century. She was the great descendant of an Earth mutant named Wolverine.

In the 2013 film Europa Report, six astronauts embarked on a privately-funded mission to Jupiter's moon Europa to find potential sources of life. After six months of mission time, a solar storm hit the ship, knocking out communication with mission control. After twenty months, the ship landed safely on Europa, but missed its original target zone. The crew drilled through the ice and released a probe into the underlying sea. Chief engineer Andrei Blok, who was sleep-deprived and eliciting concern in the rest of the crew, saw a light outside the ship, but he was unable to record it or otherwise convince the crew of its occurrence. The probe was struck by an unknown lighted object and contact with it was lost.

Appearances

 * 3001: The Final Odyssey
 * Avengers vs. Infinity 1
 * Europa Report
 * Galactic Guardians 1
 * Guardians of the Galaxy 6
 * Guardians of the Galaxy 7
 * Guardians of the Galaxy 9
 * Guardians of the Galaxy Annual 1
 * Galactic Guardians 1
 * What If? Secret Wars 1