Life On Europa, Nonfiction?

            Scientists have been researching life on planets other than Earth for a very long time.  The first lunar landing led to a disappointing discovery of no life.  Now, scientists are second guessing themselves with this discovery. Thirty years after landing on Earth’s moon, scientists are taking a second look at the sixty-five others in our solar system. One of the moons being researched is Europa.

 

Europa is the smallest of four moons and the sixth closest from Jupiter. Yet, it is one of the largest moons in the Solar System. The majority of the information we know about Europa is from the spacecraft Galileo. Though, scientists have been exploring this planet’s moons with the space probe JUICE. JUICE stands for Jupiter’s Icy Moon Exploration. This space probe explores the moon’s icy crusts and ocean floors. Although Europa may look like a frozen water ball, it is much more. The crust of the moon is covered in sulfuric acid and is toxic enough to potentially eat through any satellite to touch it. That is a main reason why it is so hard to get accurate data when researching this location. Once you get past its wet surface, there could be much more.

There is no life without water. But is there water without life? Sixty miles of water cover Jupiter’s surface. Since Jupiter is known to be so cold, you would expect the water to be frozen right? New evidence foreshadows otherwise. Jupiter and the surrounding moons pull in Europa. The force damages Europa’s outside layer and creates friction, causing the water to stay in liquid form. When scientists were noticing this, they noticed something was messing with Europa’s magnetic field. They believe it may be a very thick sea. They also concluded that this sea, at times, may be frozen. A combustion of ice, little liquid water, and sulfuric acid make up Europa.

If Europa is frozen and dark is there even a possibility for any type of life to exist? All living things contain tissues made up of proteins. When these tissues are put under pressure in a cold climate, they shrivel. The limiting factor is the water inside of every living organism. Once this liquid freezes, they cannot function anymore. This is called “denaturing”. Heat is one of the only things that can keep these tissues functioning. So, life would be very hard to accumulate on Europa.

In conclusion, scientists believe there may be life on Europa. After several studies, they still are not sure. They are not sure whether life can survive without sunlight and heat, yet they do believe there could be a possibility. A part to take into consideration is experimental error. Not all data collected through this journey could be accurate and correct. They do not know what the inside core of Europa contains. Many mysteries continue to float in the air freely.

Can life survive below a sheet of ice?

Can life survive without being exposed to sunlight?

Can there be life on any Galilean Satellites?

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