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 frequencies. See also tidal acceleration for a more detailed description. The Moon is gradually receding from Earth into a higher orbit, and calculations suggest that this would continue for about 50 billion years. By that time, Earth and the Moon would be in a mutual spin–orbit resonance or tidal locking, in which the Moon will orbit Earth in about 47 days (currently 27 days), and both the Moon and Earth would rotate around their axes in the same time, always facing each other with the same side. This has already happened to the Moon—the same side always faces Earth—and is