Juno Alters Europa’s Life Prospects
NASA
Information gathered by NASA’s Juno spacecraft orbiting Jupiter indicates that Europa, one of its moons, generates approximately 26 pounds (12 kilograms) of oxygen per second, a significantly lower amount than previously thought. This discovery alters the likelihood of discovering life in Europa’s underground ocean.
Since the initial Voyager missions that passed Jupiter in 1979, there has been conjecture regarding the potential existence of life on Europa, one of its moons. Europa, approximately 90% the size of Earth’s Moon, possesses a substantial layer of ice covering its surface. “Calculating tidal forces and analyzing images from NASA probes, researchers determined that beneath the 10- to 15-mile (15- to 25-km) thick layer of surface ice lies a global ocean ranging from 40 to 100 miles (60 to 150 kilometers) in depth.”
Water as a Fundamental Requirement for Life
The presence of water is paramount for astrobiologists, being an essential requirement for life as we understand it. While some in the field suggest it might be the sole necessity, the idea of spontaneous generation has been disregarded since the mid-19th century.
Scientists are now exploring additional factors to assess the potential for life on Europa. These include temperature, available energy for potential life forms, and salinity levels – whether they are excessive, insufficient, or comprised of the appropriate or inappropriate types of salt.
NASA
The issue also arises regarding the fundamental components necessary for life. For life to emerge, it must have the capacity to create amino and nucleic acids, which require adequate quantities of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. In their absence, life cannot thrive.
This is where the Juno data becomes relevant.
Juno Mission Reveals Europa’s Oxygen Production
Previously, it was believed that Europa generated approximately 2,000 pounds (1,000 kilograms) of oxygen per second. However, the Juno mission’s findings indicate a much lower figure of about 1,000 metric tons per day. According to NASA, this amount could sustain a million humans for a day, but for a moon the size of Europa, it’s relatively minimal.
“Juno’s Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instrument conducted the measurement, monitoring various ions, including hydrogen, oxygen, and sulfur, as they escaped from Europa.”
“‘Escaping’ might not accurately describe the process; ‘torn from Europa’ could be more suitable, as Jupiter’s immense magnetic field continuously bombards the moon with charged particles, slowly stripping away water molecules and releasing hydrogen and oxygen.”
Regrettably, Europa doesn’t produce a substantial amount of oxygen for its ocean. While this doesn’t rule out the possibility of life, it does diminish the likelihood. If you’re inclined to place bets, it might be wise to consider the odds or evens on the roulette table.
JADE scientist Jamey Szalay from Princeton University commented, “NASA’s Galileo mission provided valuable insights into Europa’s intricate and dynamic relationship with its surroundings. Juno introduced a novel capability to directly analyze the composition of charged particles emitted from Europa’s atmosphere, offering a deeper understanding of this intriguing water world. However, we didn’t anticipate that Juno’s observations would provide such precise information on the quantity of oxygen produced within Europa’s icy surface.”
Read the original article on: New Atlas
