This week sees the release of Paramount's Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which could blanket Green Lantern's glow yet further.
One way to do that would be to build vast fields of solar energy collectors on the moon, which could then beam the power to Earth using devices similar to those currently used to broadcast high-energy radio signals.
It would take a close look at the ice-covered jovian moon, which could harbor life in its subsurface ocean.
The craft will then settle into a 14-day orbit and circle the planet pole-to-pole 33 times over the next year and a half before being plunged into Jupiter's clouds at the end of its mission to prevent an accidental collision with one of Jupiter's moons, which could contaminate them with earthly microbes.
It would also work with NASA's planned Deep Space Gateway, which is designed to be a station orbiting the moon, and which could act as a waypoint en route to Mars.
There is also the potential for confusion as to what happens if the Earth votes to leave but the moon decides to remain, which could cause all manner of legal and practical headaches.
The US Space Agency has made some preliminary plans for a mission to the moon - the Europa Clipper, which could fly past the plumes.
Several years ago, however, data from the Galileo spacecraft showed that the moon had a variable magnetic field, which could be best explained by the existence of an ocean between the shell and the core.
As of now, the reason for the deposits is unknown, but the presence of oxygen in the lunar rock would make those sites attractive for future moon missions, even for human colonies, which could use the oxygen for breathing and as a rocket-fuel component.
Earth, for example, has a moon because it was hit by another object in its early life; Venus, although similar in size to Earth, has been left with a greenhouse effect caused by a toxic and thick atmosphere; and Saturn has its famous rings, which could have once been a moon.
JPL officials also are betting that NASA will move ahead with plans to send spacecraft to Pluto, the sun, and possibly Saturn's moon Titan and Jupiter's Europa, both of which could contain the ingredients for life.
