Europa (Sol 5b) is a moon of Jupiter (Sol V), United Empire of Earth (UEE). Coated with a sheet of water ice that hides a brackish ocean, its surface is crisscrossed with vast cracks that appear when tidal heating induces too much stress upon it. In SEY 2431, single-celled organisms were discovered living under the ice. Multiple institutes of higher learning maintain permanent bases on Europa that they use to study these creatures.