Europa

Europa is the name of one of the moons of Jupiter. It is named for a Phoenician princess from Greek mythology. The continent of Europe also takes its name from Europa. Sometimes referred to as Jupiter II, it is the sixth moon closest to the planet as well as the sixth largest moon in the galaxy.

Europa plays a key role in the "Space Odyssey" film series developed by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. Europa was briefly seen in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which showed the exploratory vessel Discovery One traveling towards the orbit of Jupiter where it came into contact with an alien Monolith artifact.

Ten years later, a second mission is undertaken to determine the fate of the Discovery One and its crew. Scientists Heywood R. Floyd, Walter Curnow and Sivasubramanian Chandrasegarampillai embark upon the Alexei Leonov and fly to Jupiter. The alien intelligences behind the Monoliths reveal that a form of aquatic life exists beneath the ice shelf of Jupiter's sixth moon, Europa. In order to nudge the evolutionary life cycle of these creatures, the Jupiter Monolith, code-named TMA-2, replicates itself, producing millions of smaller Monoliths, which cover the surface of Jupiter. The Monoliths create a fision effect, which transforms the gas giant into a mini-sun, thus enabling life on Europa to flourish. Bowman, whose essence has merged with TMA-2, broadcasts a warning via the HAL 9000:

ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE USE THEM TOGETHER USE THEM IN PEACE

Jupiter continued to function as a small star, and life forms flourished on Europa and continued to thrive even as late as the year 20,001.