Scientists: Europa's Ocean Similar to Earth's, May Contain Life

A new study to be published in Astronomical Journal suggests that the subsurface ocean on Jupiter's moon Europa may be an abode of life. This conclusion is based on recent observations of an Earth-bound telescope in Hawaii.

More evidence that Europa's ocean may contain life

Space Daily reports that a paper to be published by Mike Brown, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., and Kevin Hand from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in Pasadena, provides the strongest evidence yet that Europa's ocean, trapped beneath a crust of solid ice, may contain life because of its chemical composition and its temperature caused by tidal forces. The paper is the result of studies done by the Keck II Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, and its OSIRIS spectrometer.

Chemical composition of Europa ocean similar to Earth's oceans

The observations detected the presence of magnesium sulfate salt on the icy surface of Europa, according to Space Daily. The material seems to have been generated by sulfur ejected by one of Jupiter's other moons, Io, plus magnesium chloride salt coming up from Europa's subsurface ocean. With chlorides such as sodium and potassium chlorides thought to also exist on Europa's surface, scientists now believe that the subsurface ocean is very similar to that of Earth's oceans.

Options being considered for exploring Europa

With attempts to find microbial life on Mars so far not bearing any fruit, some scientists are increasingly turning to Europa as a possible target of exploration. The European Space Agency Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer, in which NASA is a participant, will conduct a number of flybys of Europa, but is more focused on another of Jupiter's moons, Ganymede. While NASA has studied an Europa orbiter for some years, recent Obama administration budget cuts have forced a descoping of such a mission to consist of a number of flybys of the icy moon in a mission called Europa Clipper, according to Space.com. The probe would include a number of instruments, including an ice-penetrating radar, a topographical imager, a magnetometer, an infrared spectrometer, and a neutral mass spectrometer. If approved, the Europa Clipper would launch in 2021 and would cost $2 billion.

Landing on Europa

Further into the future, NASA dreams of sending a probe to land on Europa. According to a Space.com story published on the NBC News site, the holy grail of a robotic mission to Europa would consist of a small submarine that would somehow penetrate the icy crust of the moon and explore the subsurface ocean, finding out once and for all whether life exists there. That mission will occur, if at all, further into the current century due to NASA's lean budget.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.

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Satellites Help in Battle to Contain Arizona Wildfires (SPACE.com)

The raging Wallow Fire that has burned nearly 500,000 acres of Arizona is slowly being contained by firefighters with some help from eyes in the sky.

About 33 percent of the fire is contained, but high winds that can cause wildfires to spread could tax those containment efforts. Emergency managers and responders are using satellite data from a variety of instruments to plan their firefighting containment strategies and mitigation efforts once the fires are out.

The Landsat 5 satellite captured images of the Wallow Fire burning in eastern Arizona on June 15 at 3:54 p.m. EDT. Both images are false-colored to allow ease of identification of various objects that will help firefighters and emergency managers. In the images burn scars appear in red and ongoing fire in bright red. Vegetation is green, smoke is blue and bare ground is tan. [NASA Photos: Raging Arizona Wildfires Seen from Space]

The Wallow Fire began May 29 in the Bear Wallow Wilderness area in eastern Arizona. High winds and low humidity meant that by June 14 the Wallow Fire became Arizona's largest wildfire to date — the fire has burned 495,016 acres, according to government records.

About 2,000 firefighters from across the country have joined forces to battle the Wallow Fire. They use several methods, including so-called controlled burns, where firefighters try to choke off the fire by burning anything that could fuel it. Firefighters use torches at night to burn tinder and other fuel sources.

Other crews are digging around unburned areas to create "islands" free of fire-fueling vegetation to protect homes.

Landsat also snapped images of the Horseshoe 2 fire, which began on May 8 in Horseshoe Canyon in the Douglas Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest, in southeast Arizona. The Chiricahua National Monument in the northern area of the fire was closed on June 9 and remains closed. NASA's Terra satellite has also contributed images of the fires.

As of June 16, the Horseshow 2 Fire had burned 184,198 acres and was 65 percent contained, according to government records.

The Landsat series of satellites, jointly managed by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey, is used by emergency managers to acquire a range of imagery and data, from floods to fires. Landsat has also provided images of the Mississippi River flooding.

Wildfires are also burning in the Southeast, with the Honey Prairie Fire in Georgia and the Espanola Fire in Florida.

This story was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site to SPACE.com.

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