Possible Life Sustaining Conditions Observed on Saturn’s and Jupiter’s Moons

Fort Worth, TX (April 14, 2017) — NASA has announced findings related to the icy, ocean bearing worlds of Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s moon Europa. Scientists with NASA’s Cassini mission discovered hydrogen gas in the subsurface ocean of Enceladus that could indicate the potential for chemical energy capable of supporting life. The Hubble Space Telescope recently detected a plume on a warm spot on Europa indicative of hot water venting from the subsurface ocean and warming the surrounding area. These two discoveries put scientists closer than ever to discovering life in our solar system.

“It is exciting that these two different NASA missions looking at moons around two different planets found evidence of similar subsurface oceans, which might provide the conditions for life”, said Dr. Doug Roberts, an astronomer and VP of Technology for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. “These discoveries show us where we should look for evidence of life in the next round of deep space exploration.”

Future exploration of ocean worlds is made possible through continued investigation of both Enceladus and Europa. The examinations of these moons is charting the territory for NASA’s Europa Clipper mission planned for the 2020s.

Learn more about NASA’s recent discoveries here.

If you would like to schedule an interview with Dr. Roberts about the Enceladus and Europa findings, please contact the Museum for more information.