Tom Dummer, Live Wire Web Editor:

NASA has announced plans to explore Jupiter’s moon, Europa, which has more oceans than planet Earth – this dependent on if President Obama’s $4 trillion federal budget with $18.5 billion set aside for NASA is approved by Republicans in congress. Photo Credit: NASA

One of Jupiter’s many moons has been in the corner of NASA’s eye for quite some time. President Obama has recently requested a new budget consisting of $18.5 billion for NASA’s various space endeavors, one of which is to use $30 million of the budget to send a satellite to orbit Jupiter to do some reconnaissance and possibly collect some samples.

You might be asking yourself “what’s so important about Europa?” Europa is comprised of water. It’s roughly 90 percent the size of our moon. It has a hard, ice surface but its core contains liquid H2O, which is possibly a vast ocean containing life similar to our own deep-sea creatures and conditions.

Life on Earth began in our oceans. The conditions inside Europa are more than likely very similar to Earth because the organisms living in our oceans don’t need the sun. They use hydrothermal vents, which are connected to the Earth’s core, which you probably know is very hot.

Europa has an egg shaped, three-day orbiting cycle around Jupiter. It expands and contracts creating friction within its core, possibly keeping the inside of Europa liquid while the cold vacuum of space maintains its outer icy shell. This is the reason why Europa could be identical to the Earth’s deep-sea.

Back in December of 2013, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured images of what they believe to be geysers shooting out of Europa. According to the Hubble’s observations, the geysers height was about 125 miles. Thanks to the geyser eruptions, a probe might be able to collect samples without even landing on Europa’s surface. Additionally, if a probe is sent there, a geyser hole would be an excellent way inside of Europa.

If Europa does contain life it will be a revolutionary discovery. Either way, life or not, Europa shows promise. Researching it is sure to show some fascinating results.

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