Laplace-P that would have studied the Jovian moon system as well as the planet Jupiter. The orbiter would have done several flybys of other Jovian moons before being placed in orbit around Europa. The lander would have researched the ocean underneath the ice sheet of Europa. However, to avoid the damaging effects of Jupiter's radiation belts, the destination of the lander was switched in 2011 from Europa to Ganymede. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System and has an internal ocean that may contain more water than all of Earth's oceans together. The orbiter would perform 13 flybys of
Orbit of the Moon the Moon's orbit around Earth, its relative timing varies greatly. In some places on Earth, there is only one high tide per day, whereas others such as Southampton have four, though this is somewhat rare. The notional tidal bulges are carried ahead of the Earth–Moon orientation by the continents as a result of Earth's rotation. The eccentric mass of each bulge exerts a small amount of gravitational attraction on the Moon, with the bulge on the side of Earth closest to the Moon pulling in a direction slightly forward along the Moon's orbit (because Earth's rotation has carried the bulge