INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — 2024 will be a busy year of space exploration for NASA and other countries.

“One of the big questions that we’re always trying to answer is, ‘Are we alone in the universe? Is there life somewhere else in our solar system,’” said Dr. Ali Bramson, assistant professor of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue University.

Bramson said one of the missions launching in 2024 is set to try and find out if there is life in our solar system.

The mission is called Europa Clipper. NASA will send a probe to circle around one of Jupiter’s largest moons to investigate if the ocean underneath the surface ice could have conditions suitable for extraterrestrial life

“Europa with it’s subsurface ocean, and the interface of that ocean with the underlying rock like those hydro thermal vents that we have here on earth,” Bramson said. “Trying to understand where life could be in our own solar system I think is a major driver of a lot of science.”

In 2024, NASA will also be sending astronauts back to the moon.

“Artemis II is designed to send humans back into orbit around the moon, which is still way closer to the moon then we’ve gotten in almost 50 years,” said Bramson.

The crew will circle the moon for 10 days and come back.

“Seeing that happen and taking that next step towards bringing humans back to the moon it’s a really important step,” said Bramson.

Artemis II isn’t the only mission to the moon next year. NASA is sending VIPER to the surface. It’s a robot that will sample water ice from the moon’s south pole.

The United States isn’t the only country with big missions in 2024. The European Space Agency is launching their Hera mission. ESA will send probes to the binary asteroid system.

“It’s an asteroid that actually has a tiny little moon, another little asteroid that’s orbiting it,” said Bramson.

It’s the same asteroid system that NASA sent a mission to last year. They successfully collided with the orbiting asteroid to see if they could successfully change it’s path, which they did.

Now, the new mission will study the results.

“Take detailed measurements of both Dimorphos and Didymos, and then also do a very detailed inspection of how that orbit changed,” said Bramson.

The measurements taken on that mission could be valuable in the future if humanity ever needs to redirect an asteroid headed for earth.