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by ibgames

EARTHDATE: April 9, 2017

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REAL LIFE NEWS: WHY EUROPA IS THE BEST CHANCE OF FINDING LIFE ELSEWHERE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

by Hazed

NASA is planning two missions to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. The Europa Clipper will go into orbit around the giant planet which means it will perform frequent flybys of the moon – this will launch in 2022 if plans go well. Then a few years later a lander mission will follow.

So why all this interest in Europa?

The reason is that if we want to find alien life anywhere in the Solar System, Europa is the most likely place.
It is a small, icy moon whose surface is covered with long linear cracks filled with an unknown brownish substance. But what’s important is that underneath the ice is an ocean of liquid water which might extend 80 to 170km into the interior of the moon. That would mean it could hold twice as much liquid water as all of Earth’s oceans put together.

Water is obviously important for life to thrive, but one other thing that’s needed is a source of chemical energy for microbes, and Europa’s ocean could have that. The moon travels into Jupiter’s magnetic field, and that radiation drives reactions on the surface which result in chemicals called oxidants. These are one of the things that supply the energy needed for life – on Earth, at least.

Movement of blocks of ice from the surface down into the ocean could transport those oxidants down to where they can react with other chemicals called reductants, which are made by seawater reacting with the rocky ocean floor.

There are a lot of challenges in sending probes to Europa, but if they can be overcome these missions should be an exciting opportunity to learn a lot about the moon – and maybe find life that didn’t develop on Earth.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-38925601

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