#Emily Costello

Emily Costello, a planetary scientist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, was selected by NASA as one of eight participating scientists to join its Lucy mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These asteroids are remnants of the early solar system trapped on stable orbits associated with, but not close to, the planet Jupiter.

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is of particular scientific interest because its salty ocean, which lies beneath a thick layer of ice, may currently have conditions suitable for existing life and the ocean water may even make its way into the icy crust and onto the moon’s surface. New research and modeling, led by University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa planetary sciences researcher Emily Costello, estimate how far down that surface is disturbed by the process called “impact gardening.”