Beneath Europa, Jupiter's fourth-largest moon, lies a vast global ocean that extends between 40 to 100 miles in depth beneath its icy surface.
Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, is a frontrunner in the quest to discover life beyond Earth. This is due to the presence of a vast subsurface salty ocean beneath an icy crust, which could provide conditions suitable for life.
Scientists believe Europa's ocean, estimated to be about 150 kilometers deep, is heated by a molten core, potentially creating hydrothermal vents similar to those on Earth that supply energy and minerals critical for microbial life. The moon's surface is geologically active, with features like "chaos terrains" revealing ongoing material exchange between its subsurface ocean and surface. This dynamic interaction could allow nutrients and chemical energy to circulate, making Europa one of the most promising places to find life in our solar system.
Research on Earth's deep-sea microbes, which survive in extreme environments near hydrothermal vents through chemosynthesis, helps scientists model what life on Europa might look like. NASA's Europa Clipper mission, scheduled for launch in October 2024, is designed to investigate Europa's ice shell, ocean, and surface chemistry through multiple flybys, gathering essential data to assess the moon's habitability and potential biosignatures.
The goal with the buoyant rover and Orpheus, a small submersible developed by JPL and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is to leverage lessons learned in the space community about making robotic systems that are smaller, lighter, lower power, autonomous, and capable of doing science on-site. In the future, scientists hope to design a mission to land on Europa that could tunnel through the ice and explore the watery depths with an autonomous submarine.
Europa's ocean is a global ocean, and it likely has a rocky seafloor with hydrothermal vents that could be exhaling fluids and gasses that microbes love to eat. The JPL-developed robot Buoyant Rover for Under Ice Exploration studies the chemistry and biology of the ice-water interface.
Astrobiologist Kevin Hand, who was aboard the Norwegian icebreaker Kronprins Haakon last fall, exploring the frozen ocean off the northeast coast of Greenland, has spent his career studying watery moons and the technologies needed to explore them. Hand believes that if conditions needed for the origin of life are found on worlds beyond Earth, then there is life beyond Earth, and we live in a biological universe.
NASA plans to launch a spacecraft to Europa in the mid-2020s to search for signs of life. The mission currently planned for Europa is called Europa Clipper, which will fly by the moon 45 times. The expedition was searching for signs of life in the deep that might resemble organisms on other worlds, including the icy moons of the outer solar system.
Alien oceans are among the best places to look for alien life because where you find liquid water, you generally find life. These oceans beyond Earth potentially harbor a tremendous amount of liquid water. Mars, while an amazing place to search for signs of life, is mainly focused on finding ancient life, and the large molecules of life do not survive for long periods of time in the rock record.
In order to explore oceans in the outer solar system, we'll have to do all sorts of development and testing of new technologies in our ocean first. Hand's recently published book, "Alien Oceans: The Search for Life in the Depths of Space," describes the link between studying Earth's own ocean and the quest to explore the shores of extraterrestrial seas. Furthermore, NASA is also planning a mission to land on Saturn's moon Titan.
Europa Clipper is hoped to set the stage for another mission to land on the surface of Europa in the not-too-distant future. The key limitation for exploring oceans in the outer solar system is sustaining a dedicated program that can get us there over the course of the next few decades. However, with ongoing research and advancements in technology, the dream of discovering life beyond Earth is edging closer to reality.
- The Moon Europa, with its vast, salty subsurface ocean and potential hydrothermal vents, is a frontrunner in the exploration of life beyond Earth, similar to the environmentally diverse planet we call home.
- Scientists are intrigued by the dynamic interaction between Europa's ocean and surface, comparing it to Earth's deep-sea environments and the community of life found there.
- In an attempt to understand the Moons of our solar system, especially Antarctica's frontrunner, Europa, NASA is planning a Europa Clipper mission for launch in October 2024.
- Drawing inspiration from lessons learned in space and ocean-and-astronomy technology, this mission aims to explore Europa's ice shell, ocean, and surface chemistry.
- Researchers hope to design a future mission to land on Europa and drill through the ice, with a submarine to explore the watery depths, much like the environmental-science expeditions that have studied our own planet's oceans.
- Just as microbial life thrives around hydrothermal vents on Earth, scientists believe similar life forms could exist in the oceans of remote worlds like Europa, particularly if they possess geological activity and a rocky seafloor with associated vents.
- The dream of discovering life beyond our planet is becoming increasingly realistic as research in history and science continues, pushing the boundary of our understanding of life and the universe, from the depths of our ocean to the mysteries of space.
