Could life exist elsewhere in the universe?
Scientists are one more step to discover whether the earthworks are alone in the universe, as the largest and most technologically advanced planetary space in NASA, the Europa clipper, launched on October 14. The clipper will go to Europa, one of the most at 95 years of Jupiter here on earth.
The mower is 10 years old in preparation and will take 5 and a half more to go to Europa. During 49 flies which will take 3 and a half years, the clipper will return data allowing scientists to examine the oceans, rocks and the atmosphere of Europa. Scientists believe that the oceans, in particular, are similar to those of the earth and will be a good indicator for the possibility of life there.
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The launch of the Europa Clipper mission to a potentially habitable celestial body-a Jupiter moon-is a leap forward in the quest to answer one of the greatest questions of humanity: is there life beyond the earth?
Erin Leonard is part of the Clipper mission since its creation. The planetary and scientific geologist of the clipper project staff discussed with the monitor of science and the objectives of the mission, and what all this means for humanity.
The discussion has been modified for more clarity and length.
What exactly are you looking for? What will indicate living conditions?
There is this question of whether you have a kind of nutrition bicycle on Europa that could support life.
The simplest way I explain it is: water plus rock plus the energy more time. We have water, what we think is like our ocean water on earth. We think there is a rocky interior – the heart of Europa – which is in contact with this underground ocean. This aquatic-rock interaction is what produces this chemistry you need for life. This is how we think that life was born on earth; At these mid-Oceanic crests on earth where you had the ocean water in contact with the rock, in contact with the heat and the magma coming out of the interior of the earth.
The energy for Europa is generated by its slightly elliptical orbit around Jupiter. This means that Europa breathes almost or bent, and the flexion generates a lot of heat on the rocky interior, then it must go out. We believe that all has simmered together for 4 billion years. And we don't know how long it takes for life to come. It could be instantaneous. It could be a billion years. This is why it is important that we have this temporal component.
What are the questions about habitability?
This concerns a large part of the stability and composition of the ocean. We think it's salty. We do not know exactly what salts are in there or are there also organic products. It is a really important chemical piece for habitability. If you think about it, life could be able to come, then it eats everything. And if these nutrients are not refreshed, he will die. And so there must be a cycle, a nutritious cycle also in the Europa. And we think it can come from the young surface.
The Europa surface is so young, around 100 million years old. The surface of the earth has around 200 to 300 million years. We believe that there could be an essence of tectonics of the current plates [Europa’s] Shell iced that refreshes the surface. Oxidants in the hard radiation environment actually produce oxidants on the surface which can then be transported in the ice shell, then in the ocean. This can provide this nutrient treadmill, if you want, help refresh the nutrients of the ocean that can support life.
What does this mean for us on earth if life can exist on other planets, other moons?
It's such an incredible, tall question: are we alone? And I think that it is amazing both from the fundamental point of view of humanity and also from a very scientific point of view. We have a point of data for life in the universe. We do not know if we are special and unique or if we are more common than we thought.
If we judge Europa habitable, we must go to understand if it is really inhabited, right? And there are important implications. If it is inhabited, perhaps we understand how life was born and perhaps we are not alone in the universe. And maybe life is really common. And it would blow me, right? And if it is not inhabited but we consider that it is habitable, then maybe we miss something. Maybe we don't know how much life is really on earth. We are missing a piece of the puzzle. And it is really difficult when you only have this only point of data from the earth to understand how life was born, where life could come, and therefore if we are alone in our solar system or alone in the universe.
There is also this broader philosophical question to know if we understand life. Should life come in a way that it comes from earth?
JPL-CALTECH / SWRI / MSSS / NASA
What are you looking forward to discovering?
I am excited for the answers to the questions that we do not even know how to ask. We think we know things about Europa. But we will learn so much and discover so much with this very capable and incredible spacecraft that I don't even know what these questions are.
It is a generational mission. Not only do we do it for ourselves, but we do it for the next generation. I still use the Voyager 2 and Galileo data, data that arrives at 50 and 20 years old. Not only do we do missions like this for our own scientific curiosity, but also to produce these data sets that will last future generations. And it's also so cool to think. It is an exciting responsibility. It is also a great responsibility to ensure that you produce these data sets which will be precious for future generations.
