$5bn NASA probe heads to nearby Milky Way moon in hunt for alien life

NASA's $5 billion (£4 billion) space probe is nearing completion in a reconnaissance mission that could be humanity's best chance of finding life elsewhere in the Milky Way.

The space agency - whose anagram stands for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - has been the world's leading organisation when it comes to space exploration ever since its inception in the 1950s.

Responsible for the iconic first ever Moon Landing, NASA has certainly done it's bit over the last half a century.

And it's not stopping there. Other projects include creating a brand new lunar car to be driven around the Moon as trips to the space rock look to become an annual thing very soon. You can see a video on that below:

Getting astronauts to Mars is then next on the list.

But for unmanned trips in to the cosmos, we're going beyond Mars.

All eyes will soon be on the massive gas giant planet of Jupiter. And in particular, the rather tiny moons that orbit it.

Through NASA's Europa Clipper programme, Europa Clipper space probe will be launched in to space with a final destination of the icy moon - funnily enough called Europa - revolving around the planet.

On Thursday (11 April), NASA unveiled the space probe itself which is currently being stored in a 'clean room' to protect it from the natural elements of Earth. You can only get in to the room if you're covered head to toe in special suits.

CGI of Jupiter's moon, Europa (Getty Stock Images)

For the team behind the project, the Europa Clipper offers us the best chance of finding alien life forms in the Milky Way galaxy.

Bob Pappalardo, the mission's project scientist, told AFP: "One of the fundamental questions that NASA wants to understand is, are we alone in the cosmos?

"If we were to find the conditions for life, and then someday actually find life in a place like Europa, then that would say in our own solar system there are two examples of life: Earth and Europa.

"That would be huge for understanding how common life might be throughout the universe."

The Europa Clipper in a clean room (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Europa Clipper launch will take place later this year in October from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

It'll arrive in orbit of Jupiter and Europa come April 2030. From there, study Europa.

A recent investigation by the University of Washington and the Freie Universität Berlin has hinted that individual ice grains from the moon could be analysed for even the smallest biological traces under the new NASA equipment.

Lead author Fabian Klenner, a UW postdoctoral researcher in Earth and space sciences, said: "For the first time we have shown that even a tiny fraction of cellular material could be identified by a mass spectrometer onboard a spacecraft.

"Our results give us more confidence that using upcoming instruments, we will be able to detect lifeforms similar to those on Earth, which we increasingly believe could be present on ocean-bearing moons."