Artist's concept of a plume of water vapor thought to be ejected off the frigid, icy surface of the Jovian moon Europa. Photo credit: NASA/ESA/K. Retherford/SWRI
Scientists suspect that inside Europa, one of the icy moons of Jupiter, reservoirs of liquid water exists, the essential element for life on Earth. This theory emerged from information obtained on the Voyager and Galileo missions, which also registered fractures and `chaotic´ terrains associated to reddish materials, which contrast with the glacial white of the dominant water ice of the surface.
"Either way, our experiments show that certain characteristics of Europa´s surface regarding its composition, morphology and topography might be explained if a saline aqueous medium is involved, which has important consequences for living beings on Earth," concludes the researcher.
