There is growing evidence that life could theoretically survive on two of the moons currently orbiting planets in our solar system. SA series of discoveries by scientists suggest that Jupiter’s icy moon Europa and Saturn’s moon Enceladus have the conditions necessary for life. These include producing large quantities of oxygen Subsurface liquid oceans on Europa and two moons. Phosphorus is an element vital to life be found Plumes of ice and water erupting from Enceladus.
Now, a recent NASA experiment has found that if life does exist on these satellites, signs of life, such as amino acids, could be detected much closer to the surface than previously thought, despite incredible radiation levels or organic molecules such as nucleic acids. That’s good news for any future missions looking for signs of life with the same gravitational pull as the Sun, since robotic landers won’t have to drill deep to find it.
“Based on our experiments, the ‘safe’ sampling depth for amino acids on Europa is almost 8 inches at high latitudes in the trailing hemisphere (the hemisphere opposite the direction of Europa’s motion around Jupiter), a region of the surface that has not yet been explored . in press release. “Detecting amino acids on Enceladus does not require underground sampling—these molecules will survive radiolysis (radiolysis) anywhere on Enceladus’s surface that is less than a tenth of an inch (a few millimeters) from the surface. Come down.”
To figure this out, Pavlov and his colleagues mixed amino acids with super-cold ice at -321 degrees Fahrenheit. Other samples were combined not only with ice but also with silicate dust to simulate the potential presence of material from deep within meteorites or moons. The samples were sealed in vacuum vials and exposed to gamma rays, a dangerous form of radiation. Other samples tested how the amino acids performed when inserted into dead bacteria to simulate the possibility of microbial life on Enceladus and Europa.
Results published in journal astrobiology, shows how quickly amino acids degrade under these conditions, and it turns out they can survive long enough to be detected by the lander mission. However, there are currently no such missions scheduled for these two moons.
Pavlov said: “Under surface conditions similar to those of Europa and Enceladus, amino acids in biological samples are destroyed more slowly, providing support for life detection measurements by future Europa and Enceladus lander missions. “Our results indicate that potential organic biomolecules in silica-rich regions of Europa and Enceladus are degraded at a higher rate than pure ice, and therefore future missions to Europa and Enceladus may be interested in Caution should be exercised when sampling from silica-rich locations on Moon.
