Jupiter’s moon Europa have conditions suitable for existing life

Team Udayavani, Jul 16, 2021, 1:21 PM IST

Source: NASA

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is looking for the possibility of life on Jupiter’s moon Europa.

The scientists are eyeing to explore the Europa surface via Europa Clipper Mission. They are currently studying the effects of minimal impact on the surface.

Europa, along with other moons of Jupiter, were discovered by the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in the 17th century. Although, the intricacies of the planet and its moon came to be known in the 1950s.

NASA in a blog post said that Europa have “conditions suitable for existing life”. This is because of its “salty ocean that lies under a thick layer of ice”.

“If we hope to find pristine, chemical biosignatures, we will have to look below the zone where impacts have been gardening. Chemical biosignatures in areas shallower than that zone may have been exposed to destructive radiation,” said Emily Costello, lead author of the study published in Nature Astronomy.

She is a planetary research scientist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Europa Clipper, the new mission, will hold a “series of close flybys of Europa as it orbits Jupiter.” The spacecraft is scheduled to take off in 2024.